Jeremy Hunt

 

Thanks to the campaigns of the two Tory Party May-Replacement candidates, we can discern the shape of the Brexit Betrayal to come. If you thought that BoJo would be the Brexit deliverer, think again. Mr Hunt, always a Remainer, seems to think he can secure his place in 10 Downing Street by canvassing the whole country promoting his ‘ideas’ for ‘his’ government. More on that below.

First we’ll have to deal with the actual situation in the HoC, where Tory Remainers are plotting to get rid of Boris should he win. RemainCentral, a.k.a. The Times reports:

“Boris Johnson is to be given six weeks’ probation as prime minister before a group of Tory MPs determined to avoid a no-deal Brexit try to bring down his government. Mr Johnson will inherit a working majority of three if he wins the Conservative leadership race, the result of which is expected on July 23. Theresa May is expected to resign on July 24. Julian Smith, the chief whip, is thought to have told Mr Johnson’s camp that Labour has put its MPs on a three-line whip for the following day with the expectation of a vote of no-confidence. Mr Smith said it would take only a handful of Tory MPs to scuttle his administration and said that two were already on a defection watch-list. (link, paywalled)

Wait – there’s worse to come:

Mrs May could even be prevented from recommending that the Queen appoint Mr Johnson if enough Tory MPs committed themselves to supporting a vote of no-confidence in advance. One of the Tory MPs involved in efforts to stop a no-deal Brexit said that Mr Johnson could be given a chance to renegotiate the EU deal over the summer. Pushing a vote of no-confidence just before the summer recess could backfire, they said.” (link, paywalled)

The arrogance of those Tory Remainers stinks to high heaven. Not only are they happily stomping on the customs and procedures which have been the hallmark of oud democracy, they would rather throw the doors wide open to a Marxist Labour government. Reports over the weekend of planned Labour policies to tax anything that moves are not scary enough, it would seem.

These Tory ‘grandees’ seem to think they will be immune from such Labour policies. They seem to regard as acceptable the hounding of BoJo and his girlfriend (see here). That’s just a joke, right, just as that comedienne’s remark about throwing acid rather than milkshakes was ’just a joke’ …

In a coming GE expect to see more of the same – but that seems to be acceptable for those Tory Remainers because Labour is now labouring to turn into the Remain Party. Venezuelan Socialism while being a colony of the EU: that’s fine provided we stay In!

Mind you, the ERG is also making some noises. Here’s a report naming names:

“Brexiteers are also ready to topple Mr Johnson if he makes it to No 10 but then fails to take Britain out of the EU by October 31. MPs in the European Research Group of Brexiteer Tories insisted they will force a confidence vote if he does not stick to his promise of leaving in the autumn with or without a deal. […] Former Cabinet ministers Esther McVey and Owen Paterson along with ex-Brexit minister David Jones, Tory MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan and the DUP’s Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson signed to the “Stand Up 4 Brexit” campaign to ensure Britain is out by October 31. They said Theresa May’s agreement was dead and must be abandoned. It follows fears among some of Mr Johnson’s supporters that he has softened his language about meeting the exit date.” (link)

While Boris has been lying low over the weekend thanks to ‘that affair’ – and isn’t it interesting that those ‘concerned’ neighbours are Remaiers to the core, getting money from the EU – Jeremy H has been busy travelling the country and telling the Nation of his plans. Of course he’d keep us in:

“Preserving the United Kingdom is more important than achieving Brexit, Jeremy Hunt said after a poll showed that a majority of Scots would back independence if Boris Johnson were to become prime minister” (link, paywalled)

This statement is based on one poll which show that Brexit would fuel the national independence movements, see here. There’s more, and Mr Hunt nails his colours to his mast:

“While in Peterhead Mr Hunt toured the Westro, a fishing boat owned and skippered by James West, 42, after a 20-minute meeting with the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation and Scottish Seafood Association. Both industries have expressed concerns about plans to tighten immigration rules with vacancy levels of up to 30 per cent in fish processing, which already relies heavily on EU migrant workers. Under Home Office plans, employees earning less than £30,000 may no longer have the automatic right to work in Britain after the country leaves the EU. More than 4,500 EU citizens work in the Scottish fishing industry and 21,000 have jobs in tourism, 11.6 per cent of all posts in the sector. The plans have attracted criticism from across the political spectrum, including from Scottish Conservatives who are concerned about the economic impact of the new rules.” (link, paywalled)

While it’s nice of Hunt to speak to fishermen, it beggars belief that he didn’t mention the disastrous EU Common Fishery Policy (CFP). No, it’s immigration, and this headline in the Remain Daily Mail (not paywalled) underlines it: “Jeremy Hunt vows to abandon Theresa May’s immigration target if he becomes Prime Minister, insisting Britain should not ‘pull down the shutters’ after leaving the EU”.

Oh dear. Words fail me. He doesn’t seem to be aware of the fact that such immigration policy won’t be needed when we stay in the EU because of the CFP which will continue to destroy our fisheries.

But don’t worry, Hunt had another interesting proposal, also picked up in the Daily Mail: “UK could consider joining Trump in war on Iran says Hunt as potential PM vows to consider support on ‘case-by-case basis’.

How this can be achieved while we Remain, with our Armed Forces becoming ever more integrated in Brussel’s Army is his secret. Why doesn’t he come out with “Strong and Stable inside the EU”? It’s what he and his Remain supporters actually mean!

Then there’s the edifying (not!) spectacle of Hunt playing the man, telling Johnson ‘to come clean’ about that affair (here) and accusing Johnson of cowardice because he’s ‘not talking’ to the MSM. Flexing his muscles by writing in The Times Hunt remarks:

“Scrutiny of the candidates matters. One of the strengths of our system is that we scrutinise our politicians with more intelligent ferocity than anywhere in the world. But in this case it just isn’t happening. Boris has done just one interview on Today in the past year. I have done 16.” (link, paywalled)

Well, he’s a Minister whereas BoJo is a backbencher. Guess whom the MSM invite more often … Hunt enumerates his TV appearances and continues:

“That scrutiny is made all the more important by the fact that our prime minister will be chosen, for the first time in history, by just 160,000 Conservative Party members. I am one of them and have been for the past 30 years and I totally trust their judgment, but I also know they want a fair and open contest, not one that one side is trying to rig to avoid scrutiny. Nothing could be worse for a new prime minister in these challenging times than to come to power with a fake contest.” (link, paywalled)

While stroking the Tory membership he actually calls the hustings for them ‘a fake contest’ – you couldn’t make it up! Hunt then remarks: “I am not interested in debating Boris’s private life.” – ah, that’s why he cries elsewhere for BoJo ‘to come clean’ on ‘that affair’, yeah right … Finally, Hunt concludes:

“A new prime minister needs the legitimacy of having made his arguments publicly and having them subjected to scrutiny. Only then can you walk through the front door of No 10 with your head held high instead of slinking through the back door, which is what Boris appears to want.” (link, paywalled)

Thus Hunt finishes with another personal swipe. However, I’m afraid I have to agree with him here, because Boris Johnson’s Monday column in the (paywalled) DT is singularly lacking in substance. It reads like a campaign speech, and all there is in it is the reiteration that ‘we can, we must and we will’ come out on October 31st.

How ‘we’, how he is going to do that: not one word. That is singularly disappointing, especially when we look at the inimitable Sir John Redwood’s Diary entry where he reports on the latest EU measures for a No Deal Brexit (here). Is Johnson frit?

Interestingly but not surprisingly the Remain Establishment seems to have taken their collective eyes off the ball that is TBP. To cheer you up, read this article in yesterday’s Express.

Be aware: this May-Replacement spectacle is about getting a firm Remainer or a wobbly Remainer into No 10. Let’s hope then that the suicidal Tory MPs will gift us with a GE. According to polls last week, that might not lead to a LabCon win …

 

KBO!

 

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