Inevitably, the campaign to replace Ms May is the main subject today. The ‘debate’ on the BBC on Tuesday evening and the result of the ballot of Tory MPs yesterday have thrown a light on the mindset of our ‘Betters’ in the Westminster Establishment. It shows in an important way how much the Remain campaign has poisoned our political system and public life during the last three years.
First, the nitty-gritty. The result of yesterday afternoon’s ballot was: Johnson: 143 votes; Hunt: 54; Gove: 51; Javid: 38; Stewart: 27. Thus Rory Stewart who lost 10 votes compared to the 2nd ballot, was eliminated. More on this below.
There are two ballots today: from 10am – 12pm MPs vote in the fourth round of the leadership contest, the result to be announced at 1pm. If there are more than two candidates left, MPs will vote in a fifth round: 3.30pm – 5.30pm, the final result to be announced at 6pm.
Obviously there will be horse-trading – this is nothing new, but certain candidates are bleating about ‘dark arts’ employed by Boris Johnson’s team. It’s to get their retaliation in first, to show that they are not to blame for being kicked out – and never mind the damage they do to the prospective PM and indeed the Tory Party by their wailings.
A special case is of course that ‘special’ candidate, Rory Stewart. He, as you recall, was the adored, preferred candidate of the London MSM. First, look at his remarks after his elimination:
“Speaking after his defeat, he said it was clear that his support had been among “people in the country” rather than his party. He said that a YouGov poll showed he had won Tuesday night’s BBC debate “overwhelmingly with the public. Clearly I am not winning that debate yet with the party, but we will see.” (link, paywalled)
Next, we get this:
“Mr Stewart’s campaign was designed to reach over the heads of Tory MPs and appeal to voters. His decision to take to the streets of Britain in a series of walks, in which he invited anyone to turn up and ask him a question, was at first seen in Westminster as eccentric. But he became the surprise breakout social media star of the campaign as he showed a willingness to listen to ordinary people.” (link, paywalled)
Finally, there’s this:
“Mr Stewart directly accused the Johnson camp of dirty tricks. […] He said: ‘There are dark arts in politics and they’re done with proxy votes, they’re not done with someone saying ‘would you please vote for this person’.’ (link)
Oh dear. There’s the wail of “I won the popular vote” (where have we heard that before?) to ‘I wuz robbed’ because of ‘dark arts’. Obviously, the brief acknowledgment that his BBC performance might have cost him votes (here) had to be buried. It is never ever the fault of the losers, it’s always the fault of ‘dark forces’ that they lose. And of course, they themselves would never ever use such ‘dark forces’ …
Note also that he apparently hadn’t grasped the fact that he was supposed to get the votes of his MP colleagues first, then that of the Tory Party members, and that this was not a GE campaign with him running as PM. He also hasn’t understood that ‘likes’ on social media don’t mean votes in real life – a lesson he and other politicians ought to have learned by now.
Next in the dock today is the BBC. ‘Egg on their faces’ doesn’t begin to describe it. In their arrogance of pushing Remain Rory and trying to stop Johnson, they committed grave errors from which there ought to be no come-back, see e.g. this report. Two of their ‘selected’ public voices were shown to have had extremely unsavoury pasts besides being Labour supporters and not ‘Tory voices’ as advertised:
“The BBC omnishambles was rife with controversy as it emerged on Wednesday an imam who had been selected to grill the Prime Ministerial hopefuls had been accused of anti-Semitism. The religious leader in question has since been suspended from his role as a deputy headteacher. In another damaging revelation it emerged another one of the contributors was a Labour activist who harboured extremist views.” (source)
A BBC presenter has apologised but the damage is done. The BBC’s planned ‘Question Time’ programme with the last two candidates seems now in doubt:
“The BBC is planning to hold a special edition of Question Time with Fiona Bruce for the final two candidates. One of the campaign teams told The Times that it would be reluctant to take part. “We are concerned about impartiality and the competence of the BBC to pick a fair audience,” a source said.” (paywalled link)
We’ve been talking and shouting about BBC Bias for years. Now it’s out in the open to such an extent that even the establishment MSM cannot help but take note. Well, for a couple of days, that is …
Unsurprisingly, the female presenters from other TV stations have gone into a huddle to defend hapless Ms Maitlis. Her inability to lead that debate was not her fault, oh no: it was that of the male contestants! Really:
“Maitlis was defended by her fellow broadcasters with the Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman tweeting that the “guys on #BBCOurNextPM debate are basically just ignoring the only woman present . . . It is NOT a good look!” Kay Burley of Sky News said “anyone who thinks they could have done a better job . . . had never ringmastered live TV”.” (link, paywalled)
When real life and facts intrude, retreat into the feminist bubble and blame the males. That’s the low to which our public debate on vital political issues has sunk. Rational discourse: forget it.
Meanwhile in real life Philip Hammond is having another go at thwarting Brexit (reports: here and here):
“The next prime minister should “explore” holding a second Brexit referendum if he fails to break the deadlock in parliament, Philip Hammond said last night. […] He said: “If the new prime minister cannot end the deadlock in parliament, then he will have to explore other democratic mechanisms to break the impasse.” Allies confirmed that he meant either an election or second Brexit referendum. “First, unless there is a general election, the parliamentary arithmetic will not change,” he said. “Parliament will not allow no-deal — and on the evidence so far, parliament will not support the only deal that is on the table. Secondly, the European Union will not renegotiate the deal. And, thirdly, the Irish question, and with it the backstop, will not go away.” (link, paywalled)
Nothing has changed, in other words, and Hammond and the rest of the Remain Tories will see to it that everything stays just as it is: “Remain Forever”!
Isn’t it amazing that one of the creators of the Brexit Betrayal still does his utmost to force it through, even unto shackling the May successor. They seem unaware of what the unavoidable, inimitable Sir John Redwood has been saying. He writes in his Diary today:
“Mr Johnson insisted on exit on 31 October. He has in mind offering a free trade deal to the EU. If they will agree to talks on such a proposition then the UK need not impose any new tariffs on them as we leave, nor them on us. Under GATT 24 there would be ample time to discuss the Free Trade Agreement whilst continuing to trade without tariffs whilst doing so. If the EU refuses to discuss a Free Trade Agreement then we leave without a deal and impose the same tariffs on the EU as we impose on everyone else. They do the same to us. The EU has always said they are interested in a free trade agreement but it has to be negotiated after we have left.”
We’ve often said that Remainers seem to be impervious to rational arguments and to plain facts. Rory Stewart exemplified it, Philip Hammond never took off his blinkers. They are drunk on their own rhetoric. Reason is not necessary when you have civil serpents succor you or when you have thousands and thousands of ‘likes’ on twitter.
Those two Tories also show us that, to keep us In, Remainers are blithely abandoning customary Party loyalties. All MSM eyes may be on ‘dark forces’ in this Tory Leadership election but we must not get distracted: in the end it has to be about getting us out on Halloween.
However, BoJo or not, the Remain forces are not going to go away. So, as always, be vigilant and remember that it’s no longer about Parties but about one thing only: to get Brexit.
KBO!
Final two (for what it’s worth) is Bojo and Hunt. We can now sleep for a month.
Rory Stewart going “walkabout”. Why? The man is and always was deluded.
There is no doubt but this is a civil war albeit with a veneer of civilisation, but no less vicious with the weapons being employed. As has been said “the pen is mightier than the sword” and it is being employed with all the means at the Remainers disposal. The foot-soldiers are not only the professionals who dig the dirt and censor the opposition but also people who give the impression that are merely amateur commenters in the MSM who are allowed free rein to indulge their favorite pastime of personal abuse.
Martin Howe QC has published a guide to GATT 24:
“A simple explainer about Article XXIV of the GATT”
Do read it, especially in view of Phil Hammond’s and the other Remainers’ wails that we can’t do nuthin without the EU ….
Doing nothing may be the best way out. If Parliament won’t accept No-deal or the WA then the only way forward is, no more extensions. No need for Parliament to be involved, the legal default will apply, we leave on October 31st and there’s nothing the EU or HoC can do about it. The EU and Ireland can sort out the border issues.
Yes, that’s all Boris has to do once he gets into No.10, but already he’s talking about not leaving on October 31. I hope that’s just to win votes and in the end he’ll prove to be the great Brexiteer he started out to be.
Yes indeed. October 31st is a long way off and there seems to be something about “No Deal” that no want to touch. I suspect that if Boris becomes Prime Minister He will force though Mrs May’s deal with a few minor changes. That might not be so bad as “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” and “Rome wasn’t built in a day” as it would eliminate the stranglehold the EU has over Britain leaving the country in a position to assert the sovereignty of the State and the government.
“May’s deal with a few minor changes…….. would eliminate the stranglehold the EU has over Britain: ” This is the the opposite of the truth. Why do you think we call it the Suicide Surrender Treaty?
May`s deal adjusted or not is a disaster we MUST not re-introduce it, we mujst leave with No Deal WTO and GATT Article XXIV see Martin Howe`QC`s critique
Viv, t hanks for this lead to GATT Article XXIV, in view of Bojo`s comment in the BBC debate it is a very valuable read., but I also thank you for providing me with the ability to read in full Martin Howe Q C`s article dated 31/3/2019..”Why Brexiteers were right to reject Theresa May`s deal and why it is right to reject it again if it is brought back”. It is devastating , I assume this article was available to most MPs and yet they persisted in insisting that the WA was to be passed and then after Brexit unpicked with the Political Declaration during the implementation period. some quotes:- “The Fatal restrictions of this deal”, “It will not be possible for the UK to insist on negotiating a future relationship deal which contradicts the PD”, “We would be led into a false Brexit in which the benefits of leaving the EU will be sacrificed”, “Ideas of a future government just bursting out of a binding International treaty are fantasies”, “The deal betrays Northern Ireland and the union”, ” The deal leads to a Customs Union anyway”, “Those who resisted and defeated the deal were right in principle and pragmatically”, “If it`s brought back again it should be defeated again in the National interest” and yet apparently our present PM cadidates are still talking about an amended WA – are they mad or just not interested in acting in the national interest.
How long before we hear that the Russians are meddling in this election as well, after all they always do if MSM doesn’t like the results?
To be defended by two of the most arrogant, smug, superior, puffed -up, self-satisfied, cringeworthy presenters on TV, Newman and Burley. Says it all.
“This organization does not tolerate failure”
There is a raft of top EU jobs going to be awarded at a meeting today – and Theresa will be attending that meeting. If she is awarded one of those groups, it will be confirmation that not only is she a committed leaver but that the prospect of a top EU job was dangled in front of her. Of course, because she hasn’t been able to get Mrs Merkel’s WA through the HoC, she may well be denied her seat on the gravy train.
“This organization does not tolerate failure.”
I would like to help Kathy Newman.What she is saying is: ‘I hate the Torreees!’
How about Baroness Teressa May, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy , and V.P of the Commission, do you think that would be appropriate!