And so it came to pass that the electoral bounce attributed to Bozo The Clown was put to its first test, with the voters in Brecon and Radnorshire going to the polls yesterday in a by-election caused by the recall petition against sitting Tory Chris Davies. He had been convicted of submitting a bogus expense claim, seemingly a routine matter for The Blue Team. The voters were unimpressed. The Tories lost. Hurrah for Bozo!
A complete Muppet. And Elmo from Sesame Street
Any electoral bounce for alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson was counterbalanced by Plaid Cymru and the Green Party deciding not to stand candidates - as well as the ominous sign of the Brexit Party securing 10% of the vote, which Nigel “Thirsty” Farage and his pals will do in countless seats across the UK, should Johnson try and break the Parliamentary deadlock by calling a General Election.
So the “Boris Bounce” meant a Tory majority of over 8,000 votes was wiped out and turned into a Lib Dem one of over 1,400. The worry for the Tories is this: in 2015, the Tory vote and the UKIP vote was 50% of the total. Yesterday, the Tory vote, the UKIP vote (such is it was), and the Brexit Party vote was 50.3% of the total. The centre-right and right-wing vote help up. It just got split. And First Past The Post does not love splits.
Worse, voters clearly put aside party differences to get the obvious front-running opponent to the Tories over the line. Why they might have so done should be obvious from the behaviour of the Government as exit from the EU looms, along with what is now looking like very bad news for the economy - right across the UK.
After Daily Mirror political editor Pippa Crerar told “No 10 insider tells me they’re relaxed about pound falling because it shows that business is ‘finally taking it seriously’ that UK is leaving EU on Oct 31”, Ian Dunt of Politics Co UK concluded “They’re actually insane”. The house was on fire, and the occupants reported that they were relaxed about it.
Worse, they were clearly relaxed about other, potentially worse, news: Sam Coates of Sky News reported that his team had got their hands on “sensitive” information about how the first month after a No Deal Brexit might pan out. Under the heading “What this could look like on the ground”, some truly grim scenarios were outlined.
“Trade & passenger flow from UK to EU slows … UK nationals in EU may lose access to services and residence rights … [Northern Ireland] cross-border agricultural trade virtually stops … potential consumer panic and food shortages … possible increased risk of serious organised crime … continued volatility of currency and financial markets with potential for disruption of debt markets”. And there was more.
“[Northern Ireland] small businesses face distress and potential law and order challenges … UK nationals unable to meet new EU MS residency requirements may start returning … heightened policing resource unsustainable, operational gaps continue to emerge … Sterling settled at lower level (BoE analysis suggests 25% in worst case scenario)”.
Live from inside the Tory bunker
And we have a Government that is “relaxed” about it all. But then, we no longer have a functioning Government. It’s been replaced by an economic death cult.
Sadly, we have an establishment class willing to go along with it. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
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7 comments:
“No 10 insider tells me they’re relaxed about pound falling because it shows that business is ‘finally taking it seriously’ that UK is leaving EU on Oct 31"
That's good! It means that the EU27 will believe it too and scrap the Backstop.
"Nurse! Arnold hasn't taken his medication again!"
Now watch how Kuenssberg and co try to soften the implications of this result, mainly by telling what a "disaster" it is for Labour.
*Pulls up chair and tucks into large bag of crisps*
Slightly off topic - UKIP mk1 were out loonied by the Monster Raving LP.
They should call it a day, they are totally irrelevant now.
James (Inaptronym) Cleverly was on TV this morning. He seemed to be blaming Radnor voters for not honouring the 2016 referendum result by not voting Tory.
So.....a dead cat bounce for Bozo.
Oh how we larfed.
(not so) Cleverly blamed their defeat on the "backroom manoeuvring" of those parties that decided not to put up candidates. Forgetting to mention the famous Tory "manoeuvring" with the DUP, complete with a £10m pound bribe.
Some people are being ludicrously over-optimistic about this result. Consider:
1) despite fielding a completely disgraced candidate, Team Bozo still finished within 1400 votes of holding the seat.
2) The LibDems only won because PC and Greens didn't field candidates (goodness only knows what the quid pro quo for that might be; will the LDs now support independence? Will Swinson hand back all that dosh she got from the head of a fracking company? Hardly, in either case).
3) As you pointed out Tim, the pro-Brexit candidates won over half the vote, the anti-Brexit candidate won 43%, and the "WTF are we saying this week?" Labour Party finished a poor fourth.
4) Bozo is still safe for now, not only because he can shake that magic tree to bribe the finest minds that 18th century Ireland has to offer, but also because any putative Tory 'rebels' will, untimately, behave as they always do; they will either be scared off or bought off.
As you were...
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