Brexit

[Ronald Sandoval]

but we didn't even plan when we were going to trigger Article 50, and we certainly could have had discussions with the EU before we did that--but no, Article 50 got triggered before we had any real idea what was happening, giving us a hard two year limit we simply weren't ready for.

I believe the EU refused to discuss brexit until after Article 50

[Golden_Gonads]

but we didn't even plan when we were going to trigger Article 50, and we certainly could have had discussions with the EU before we did that--but no, Article 50 got triggered before we had any real idea what was happening, giving us a hard two year limit we simply weren't ready for.

I believe the EU refused to discuss brexit until after Article 50

That's what they said at the time, yeah. If I remember rightly, there's a post or two in this thread about it. As for it being a hard limit, we must have different definitions of hard, as that limit was hit back in March.

[CBJ]

Well, if we weren't screwed before, we are now.

[pjknibbs]

Well, if we weren't screwed before, we are now.

No-deal Brexit October 31st, by the looks--unless Boris calls a snap election, which he might be stupid enough to do.

[Alan Phipps]

As if the Conservative government leave/remain and hard/soft splits weren't already paralysing and bad enough, now we'll have the 'I can/cannot work for/with Boris' split as well.

[fiksal]

I must be missing something in British politics... how is that guy popular with the party? Or is he that popular with the people?

[RegisterMe]

He's popular with the party, which basically consists of 160,000 middle-aged and older affluent white men.

So no, not entirely representative of the country at large .

He's basically got a free pass until he either faces a no-confidence vote or a general election, both of which, whilst not guaranteed, could pretty much happen any time for pretty much any reason. Aside from the fact that the chances of a no-deal Brexit have increased nothing else has changed except the hand on the tiller.

[BugMeister]

- get ready for yet another expensive pantomime..

- sheesh..!!

[pjknibbs]

He's popular with the party, which basically consists of 160,000 middle-aged and older affluent white men.

So no, not entirely representative of the country at large .

My mother is definitely not an affluent white man, but she thinks the sun shines out of his nether regions. His popularity among the country at large may be greater than you think.

[fiksal]

He's popular with the party, which basically consists of 160,000 middle-aged and older affluent white men.

So no, not entirely representative of the country at large .

He's basically got a free pass until he either faces a no-confidence vote or a general election, both of which, whilst not guaranteed, could pretty much happen any time for pretty much any reason. Aside from the fact that the chances of a no-deal Brexit have increased nothing else has changed except the hand on the tiller.

Understood. I wonder if this will bring a change in strategy

[RegisterMe]

He's popular with the party, which basically consists of 160,000 middle-aged and older affluent white men.

So no, not entirely representative of the country at large .

My mother is definitely not an affluent white man, but she thinks the sun shines out of his nether regions. His popularity among the country at large may be greater than you think.

Fair point. But it's certainly true to say that of the 160,000ish members of the Conservative Party the vast majority fit the demographic I described.

[Chips]

Well, if we weren't screwed before, we are now.

No-deal Brexit October 31st, by the looks--unless Boris calls a snap election, which he might be stupid enough to do.

I'm not sure he would, not unless he thought he'd win it and gain a working majority. He's been after this position for so long, and is so impressed with the likes of Churchill that he'll want his name in history in some important sense, that surely he wouldn't risk it all without being certain.

He's a buffoon, but I think he's no fool. He's calculating; he was a remainer but switched to Brexit as it was an opportunity for the position he now holds. His promises over taxes weren't for the General Populace, but for the 9x,000 people who just voted him into this position he now holds (so wouldn't be surprised if that's dropped). To cement his position, he knows Corbyn is unpopular with the public and I'm fairly sure that while hammering on about achieving Brexit (famous, or infamous moment for history) he's going to try and appeal to a wider amount to cement his hold - which doesn't mean swing Labour supporters, possibly more the Brexit/UKIP parties. He doesn't want to be PM for 24 months of that I'm sure.

Having a quick look at statistics RegisterMe mentioned about numbers of members, it was surprising that UKIP do so well yet only have 29,000 membership. The Greens have double that. Indicates people voting for them in various areas do not actually support the parties viewpoints to any extent. Same with Conservatives, their membership is vastly down - it will be interesting to see if it rises with Boris or falls further.

Fairly sure one problem for Boris is that he relied upon the Brexit voting Tories - who are vocal. He may want to actually get a deal, they may not let it happen.
We live in interesting times - though I'd probably be happier if we were in safer ones than interesting, but...

[felter]

He's popular with the party, which basically consists of 160,000 middle-aged and older affluent white men.

So no, not entirely representative of the country at large .

He's basically got a free pass until he either faces a no-confidence vote or a general election, both of which, whilst not guaranteed, could pretty much happen any time for pretty much any reason. Aside from the fact that the chances of a no-deal Brexit have increased nothing else has changed except the hand on the tiller.

Understood. I wonder if this will bring a change in strategy

One problem with that, is that you have to have a strategy to start with before you can change it.

[Golden_Gonads]

Fair point. But it's certainly true to say that of the 160,000ish members of the Conservative Party the vast majority fit the demographic I described.

A quick search says that around 75% of Conservative Party members were male at the end of 2017, with 44% being over 65. (Article from the Independent).

Mind you, anyone with £25 burning a hole in their pocket could have joined the party and voted for whichever candidate.

[BugMeister]

amazing to see Boris accepting his glorious victory - speech! speech!
..a glowing message to the 160,000 faithful members, who put him there..

ps. the other 60 million of us could possibly care less

- he was elected by less than .003% pf the population..
- baa-aa, ba-baa - meh..

- here's Jonathan Pie's take on the ludicrously un-representative Boris Johnson..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUx3UjX7h6c

- oops!

[felter]

So Boris decided to visit Scotland as part of his pulling the country together on the way to a no deal Brexit and he got a proper Scottish welcome. Turns out he got an earful from the Scottish first minister but it then got even worse, as he also got a frosty reception from the Scottish Conservative leader. So much for he can pull the country together, something tells me he wont want to come back to Scotland anytime soon. Not a reception that he is used to. Wonder what will happen when/if he decides to go to Northern Ireland.

[pjknibbs]

He'd have to be a complete moron not to have expected that reaction--which I'm not ruling out, you understand, just saying. I mean, he's one of the main reasons Brexit is happening, and the Scots really don't like that.

[Bishop149]

So Boris decided to visit Scotland as part of his pulling the country together on the way to a no deal Brexit and he got a proper Scottish welcome.

Also, if you watch carefully at around the 0:45 He tries to usher Nicola Sturgeon into her own office, which she's having none of, good on her.
That sound you're hearing is the death of the Union.

[euclid]

A unification of Ireland seem to not that far fetched anymore. If Scotland's 2020 referendum succeeds then Great Britain will be England and Wales. The latter is subject to change once they discover that Bold Borris' promises are just plain wrong.

Cheers Euclid

[felter]

Trump had called Boris a Britain Trump, in a way he is right as Boris just like Trump just keeps on telling lies. Sturgeon in an interview yesterday said what Boris is saying to the press about leaving the EU without a deal, is different to what he is saying behind closed doors. She blatantly called him a liar and the thing is, it is pretty well documented that he is willing to lie to get his own way.