Tag: Commons

‘Twas the morning of Christmas

‘Twas the morning of Christmas

And all through the house

Not a creature was stirring

Not even a mouse.

The members were missing,

Backbenchers and front

Even dear Boris

At Thame in the country (with Carrie his soon to be spouse).

The front benches were empty:

Tories flew off like bats

To their fat Christmas turkeys

The selfish tw rats.

And in towns that were labour

Until Boris lied

Rough sleepers lay shivering

As hungry kids cried.

But the Tories don’t care

About other peoples’ pain

Their only real interest

Is personal gain.

They could have done so much

For kids, mams and dads

But they only care for

The Bullingdon lads:

The lovers of pigs heads;

The trashers of bars;

The fifty quid burners;

And crashers of cars.

Twas the morning of Christmas

And all through the house

Tory MPs ignored

All those poor as a mouse.

#ToryChristmas

Gutted!

Gutted

Last night at 10pm the exit polls announced their results. Right from the word go, even as the count was only just getting started TV pundits were predicting a landslide majority for the conservative party. And they were right.

The tory party now has a massive overall majority in the British parliament and there’s nothing to stop them doing exactly as they please. And there’s the rub.

No excuses

There are no longer any excuses for Boris and his disreputable gang of bully boys. There’s nobody to blame for their failures or for their cruelties. Whatever they do in the next five years, longer if they implement their ‘enabling act’ (see p.48 of the Tory manifesto) will be entirely down to them.

Well, they made a lot of promises, as tories always do. Election time is the only time when the conservative party starts talking like socialists. As if by magic they suddenly begin en masse to care about the NHS waiting lists they created. They start to worry about people struggling in poverty due to Tory party policies and they claim to want more educational opportunities for our young people who’ve had their prospects decimated by 9 years of Tory rule.

We’ll be watching

So let’s make sure they do what they set out to do. Let’s make sure they keep those promises too. After all, we know they’ll keep the right wing pledges they made to take even more from ordinary people and give it to the super rich. We know they’ll be falling over each other to flog our NHS to the Americans and there’s absolutely no doubt that they’ll further decrease our access to legal redress when our rights are trampled. That’s the trajectory they’ve been on for years.

Let’s hold them to their words about the good stuff too.

Left eye view

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Left eye view will keep watching this government and compare its actions to its manifesto and election promises. New laws, changes to taxation and reductions in funding for necessary services will be compared against Boris’ promises to us, the people. Let’s see how sincere this government really is.

Second referendum

Keir Starmer announced this morning talking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr that a motion for a second referendum, a ‘Peoples’ vote’ will be tabled next week. He further announced that this new referendum will be supported by the Labour party.

Poor old Boris. Never mind Rees-Mogg. It’s OK, Farage. You’ll just have to content yourselves with the money you already have. We won’t let you shaft the rest of the UK to enlarge your already over-inflated piles (double entendre intended). https://youtu.be/HHCHG8skjuA

Boris’ false dichotomy

Boris’ letter to parliament doesn’t include every possibility. We could simply withdraw article 50. But what would his vulture, currency-speculating backers make of that. If he doesn’t sink the UK economy he and his mates won’t increase their piles.

Yeah, well. They’re stinking rich already. Let them be satisfied with what they’ve got! I say withdraw and save the country. That’s my way to ‘get Brexit done’.

Over and done – consigned to the dustbin of mistakes we almost made.

You can’t trust the Boris

What a Pfeffel!


As demanded by the Benn act, Boris Johnson last night sent an unsigned letter to the EU following his latest defeat in the Commons. It’s brief, to the point, terse and bordering upon churlish, especially since it doesn’t bear a signature. Here is what he wrote…

Dear Mr President,

The UK Parliament has passed the European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 2) Act 2019. Its provisions now require Her Majesty’s Government to seek an extension of the period provided under Article 50(3) of the Treaty on European Union, including as applied by Article 106a of the Euratom Treaty, currently due to expire at 11 p.m. GMT on 31 October 2019, until 11 p.m. GMT on 31 January 2020.

I am writing therefore to inform the European Council that the United Kingdom is seeking a further extension to the period provided under Article 50(3) of the Treaty on European Union, including as applied by Article 106a of the Euratom Treaty. The United Kingdom proposes that this period should end at 11 p.m. GMT on 31 January 2020. If the parties are able to ratify before this date, the Government proposes that the period should be terminated early.

Yours sincerely,

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland


He then sent another, signed letter, warmer in tone undermining the first…

Dear Donald,

It was good to see you again at the European Council this week where we agreed the historic new deal to permit the orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on October 31.

I am deeply grateful to you, President Juncker and to all my fellow European leaders for the statesmanship and statecraft which enabled us to achieve this historic milestone. I should also register my appreciation for Michel Barnier and his team for their imagination and diplomacy as we concluded the negotiations.

When I spoke in Parliament this morning, I noted the corrosive impact of the long delay in delivering the mandate of the British people from the 2016 referendum. I made clear that, while I believe passionately that both the UK and the EU will benefit from our decision to withdraw and develop a new relationship, that relationship will be founded on our deep respect and affection for our shared culture, civilisation, values and interests.

We will remain the EU’s closest partner and friend. The deal we approved at last week’s European Council is a good deal for the whole of the UK and the whole of the EU.

Regrettably, Parliament missed the opportunity to inject momentum into the ratification process for the new Withdrawal Agreement. The UK Parliament Representative will therefore submit the request mandated by the EU (Withdrawal) (No.2) Act 2019 later today.

It is, of course, for the European Council to decide when to consider the request and whether to grant it. In view of the unique circumstances, while I regret causing my fellow leaders to devote more of their time and energy to a question I had hoped we had resolved last week, I recognise that you may need to convene a European Council.

If it would be helpful to you, I would of course be happy to attend the start of any A50 Council so that I could answer properly any question on the position of HM Government and progress in the ratification process at that time.

Meanwhile, although I would have preferred a different result today, the Government will press ahead with ratification and introduce the necessary legislation early next week. I remain confident that we will complete that process by 31 October.

Indeed, many of those who voted against the Government today have indicated their support for the new deal and for ratifying it without delay. I know that I can count on your support and that of our fellow leaders to move the deal forward, and I very much hope therefore that on the EU side also, the process can be completed to allow the agreement to enter into force, as the European Council Conclusions mandated.

While it is open to the European Council to accede to the request mandated by Parliament or to offer an alternative extension period, I have made clear since becoming Prime Minister, and made clear to Parliament again today, my view, and the Government’s position, that a further extension would damage the interests of the UK and our EU partners, and the relationship between us.

We must bring this process to a conclusion so that we can move to the next phase and build our new relationship on the foundations of our long history as neighbours and friends in this continent our peoples share. I am passionately committed to that endeavour.

I am copying this letter to Presidents Juncker and Sassoli, and to members of the European Council.

Yours sincerely,

Boris Johnson


It’s a childish trick and it fools nobody. Boris is behaving like a little boy who, having been caught with his hands in the cookie jar is now relying on a technicality (nobody said he couldn’t) to change the obvious reality of the Benn act.

Our PM makes pious pronouncements about parliamentary sovereignty on one hand and then ignores the spirit of parliament to undermine it on the other. He is duplicitous, dangerous and cynical, just like his plans for Brexit

The sooner this pack of wolves is relegated to the opposition benches the better. Until then nobody’s ‘sweetie jar’ is safe from Johnson’s grubby little mitts!

All hail the Boris!

All hail the Boris,

The do-er of deals,
He Brooks no kerfuffle,
Or even de Pfeffel,
While screwing loyal Irish,
His Allies of yore,
And leaving our workers,
Protected no more.

The Yanks will be chuffed though,
As the PM does a Trump,
And trouser-coughs across this land,
While Farage hits the dump.

The Brexit party has no role,
If Boris’ deal goes through,
So Nigel has to oppose it,
Or lose his cash-cow too.

What will the Brexiteers do,
If this wins a commons vote?
Or the Lib Dems once they lose,
Their only policy of note?

Parliamentary loyalties,
Are straining fit to burst,
As principles and self-interest,
Compete – the best & worst,
Of MPs hold the power,
To screw us all with ‘Aye’,
Or walk through’Nay’,
And let good sense prevail,
Let Workers’ rights
And British wages,
Live to fight,
Another day.
And so we say…

“All fail the Boris!”