This is one of the most incredible articles I have ever read, unbelievable chaos. Difficult to pick out a para that captures the key elements as there are so many threads of dysfunction, but this bit gives a feel:
> It was, in the end, the botched handling of a Labour vote on fracking that pushed many MPs over the edge. . .Throughout the day, Tory MPs facing huge local pressure over fracking began making it clear they would happily lose the party whip rather than back the government on the issue.
> …As the fracking debate came to an end and climate minister Graham Stuart said that the vote was no longer being regarded as a confidence motion… When one MP asked [Chief Whip Wendy Morton] how they were meant to vote, several witnesses said she replied: “I don’t know. I’m no longer the chief whip.”
> As the pressure increased, other MPs said Truss was seen racing after Morton, losing her security detail in the process. It culminated in a 45-minute meeting in the Tory whips’ office. Eventually, the two whips had unresigned,
Honestly, things have been a shambles for a very long time.
Brexit, Johnson and Truss are merely a symptoms of the rot.
That Charles Walker interview was what did it for me.
The guy was having a nervous breakdown live on TV and, despite his unfathomable dignity, you could see his world crashing down around him. He looked completely exhausted.
People don’t get what it means to lose the party whip as a backbencher. You’re basically fired. There’s no cushty job to catch you for an almost MP. And there’s entire communities and budgets back home in your constintuencies that depend on you being in the Commons. Lose the whip and you’re f—ed for life.
I know Boris is a sociopath but Truss and her butch-bints are wholesale psychopaths.
Forcing people to vote by manhandling them was a really bad look for the government. Not sure theycan ever get over that. If Labour win the next election we need changes to our democracy because its like the Wild west at the moment.
[removed]
We’re seeing democracy crumble before or eyes. The Tories are becoming increasingly authoritarian, from their crackdown on protests to their refusal to hold a general election after two PMs have left due to their party having no confidence in them. They no longer care about representing the public, nor listening to them when it comes to voicing their opinions. The Tories are corrupt to the bone but the media refuses to call them out on it because corruption is supposed to only happen in other countries, if you believe them at least. The sad thing is this could easily continue for two years and a competent PM might be able to heal some of the damage, they might do well enough to allow the Tories to remain in power even longer as a result.
If Sunak wins by default, does she go Monday or get a few more hours/days to fuck something else up?
I think it’s safe to say that the British government has collapsed
8 comments
This is one of the most incredible articles I have ever read, unbelievable chaos. Difficult to pick out a para that captures the key elements as there are so many threads of dysfunction, but this bit gives a feel:
> It was, in the end, the botched handling of a Labour vote on fracking that pushed many MPs over the edge. . .Throughout the day, Tory MPs facing huge local pressure over fracking began making it clear they would happily lose the party whip rather than back the government on the issue.
> …As the fracking debate came to an end and climate minister Graham Stuart said that the vote was no longer being regarded as a confidence motion… When one MP asked [Chief Whip Wendy Morton] how they were meant to vote, several witnesses said she replied: “I don’t know. I’m no longer the chief whip.”
> As the pressure increased, other MPs said Truss was seen racing after Morton, losing her security detail in the process. It culminated in a 45-minute meeting in the Tory whips’ office. Eventually, the two whips had unresigned,
Honestly, things have been a shambles for a very long time.
Brexit, Johnson and Truss are merely a symptoms of the rot.
That Charles Walker interview was what did it for me.
The guy was having a nervous breakdown live on TV and, despite his unfathomable dignity, you could see his world crashing down around him. He looked completely exhausted.
People don’t get what it means to lose the party whip as a backbencher. You’re basically fired. There’s no cushty job to catch you for an almost MP. And there’s entire communities and budgets back home in your constintuencies that depend on you being in the Commons. Lose the whip and you’re f—ed for life.
I know Boris is a sociopath but Truss and her butch-bints are wholesale psychopaths.
Forcing people to vote by manhandling them was a really bad look for the government. Not sure theycan ever get over that. If Labour win the next election we need changes to our democracy because its like the Wild west at the moment.
[removed]
We’re seeing democracy crumble before or eyes. The Tories are becoming increasingly authoritarian, from their crackdown on protests to their refusal to hold a general election after two PMs have left due to their party having no confidence in them. They no longer care about representing the public, nor listening to them when it comes to voicing their opinions. The Tories are corrupt to the bone but the media refuses to call them out on it because corruption is supposed to only happen in other countries, if you believe them at least. The sad thing is this could easily continue for two years and a competent PM might be able to heal some of the damage, they might do well enough to allow the Tories to remain in power even longer as a result.
If Sunak wins by default, does she go Monday or get a few more hours/days to fuck something else up?
I think it’s safe to say that the British government has collapsed