Enjoying the farce that is the ‘game of No 10 thrones’
The Germans have an excellent expression: “sich fremdschämen”. It means one is embarrassed or ashamed for something someone else has done. It’s usually applied to shenanigans perpetrated by government ministers and officials who have behaved in a shameful manner but don’t see anything wrong with what they’ve done.
This weekend, I’m deeply ashamed for the disgusting manoeuvrings by all connected, one way or another, to the Court of Carrie Antoinette. It’s as if there’s nothing else of importance for us, for the Nation, than being shown gleefully by the Westminster hacks how the ‘power players’ in this truly byzantine set-up are operating.
The various writers and editors however haven’t made up their minds quite yet about when and how to get rid of the PM. ‘Tis difficult: a wrong step now might mean they lose access to ‘her upstairs’. Whom to support openly? Difficult as well: being out in the open prematurely, raising one’s head above the parapet, might have serious consequences for one’s access to ‘sources’ and thus later for one’s professional career.
One journalist who feels secure is The Times’ arch-remainer Matthew Parris. He’s been campaigning against Johnson for a long time. In his opinion piece in The Times today he urges Johnson’s ‘political assassins’ to strike now (link, paywalled), going on to describe Ms Truss, the dahlink of the Tory Party, as a shallow, power-hungry ‘continuity populist’.
He brings Jeremy Hunt into the mix, describing him as “dignified and courteous politician” and wonders why he’s been so quiet. Next, Parris pays a back-handed compliment to Sunak for being cautious which may not always be wise, speculating that Sunak is trying hard to avoid looking greedy for the top job.
Meanwhile the Westminster weekend MSM are full of claims by irate ‘ministers’ and Tory MPs demanding Johnson to sack Sunak because ’he publicly rebuked Johnson for his Starmer Remark’ (link). Those critics are totally out of touch with reality, even the political reality that is Westminster. All Sunak said was that he wouldn’t have made that remark. And that is a ‘rebuke’?
Obviously some of the desperate Johnson supporters expect that anyone in the cabinet must endorse everything Johnson said, even yon Starmer Remark which has become the pretext for his long-term political adviser Ms Munira Mirza to quit her job.
How truly byzantine the whole thing has become is documented by the febrile rush of the Westminster hacks to read No 10 tea leaves in order to point fingers at Sunak as the grand string-puller in this theatre. The DM writes:
“[Ms Mirza] also has intriguingly close personal links to Rishi Sunak, including through her Tory aide husband Dougie Smith. And the political journalist who broke news of her resignation, James Forsyth, had Mr Sunak as best man at his wedding. Forsyth and his wife, former No10 spokeswoman Allegra Stratton, are also godparents to the Sunaks’ children. The manoeuvring and intricate connections have sparked speculation that a full-scale coup is under way.” (link)
Good grief! Isn’t it sexist and misogynist, to imply that females are doing what their hubbies tell them to? I think it’s far more indicative of the attitude of the Westminster hack pack who believe they have the power to drive cabinet policies while they themselves have no responsibility, are above scrutiny, and are of course not elected. So no surprise when Andrew Pierce in the DM writes that all those connections in the incestuous cabinet ‘lead to Sunak’ (link)!
However, there’s another player with ‘connections’ who also graced today’s front pages with another beautiful announcement – Mr Jabbit. He told the nation that he’s planning to establish drop-in cancer screening centres in High Streets and football stadiums by 2028 (link, paywalled).
However, here’s a peculiar thing: according to the Times, “Javid […] followed Sunak by saying that the Labour leader “deserves the respect for taking on such a big public job and doing well”.” (link, paywalled) – aahh! So soft-soaping Starmer by this cabinet minister is acceptable, is it, and not ‘a sacking offence’?
It certainly isn’t at Carrie Antoinette’s court because she has ‘connections’ to Jabbit. Lord Ashcroft mentions this in his biography of her which is coming out next month. The DM has splashed some quotes across their front page (link), accompanied by an article by Lord Ashcroft himself (link). Neither of those articles are paywalled so you can peruse them at your leisure – it’s the weekend, after all.
Carrie’s ‘connections’ would explain nicely why she, the string-puller par excellence is trying to get her ‘friends’ in the Westminster meejah to smear Sunak while glossing over Jabbit’s failures as head of the dysfunctional DHSC.
Jabbit may also have some secret support by Whitehall mandarins. After all, he was Home Secretary from 2018 to 2019 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2019 to 2020, during Johnson’s reign replacing Ms May. He’s not forgiven Johnson to oust him and replace him with Sunak and clearly, neither has Ms J forgiven Sunak for accepting that job.
The truly sickening aspect to all those manoeuvrings ‘in the shadows’ is the blatant disregard all those wannabe ‘kingmakers’ are paying to the dire situation this country is in. Johnson’s thrashings about , with ‘pep talks’ and ‘pleas’ to MPs to please support him and leave him in No 10 (e.g. link, paywalled) are signs of his desperation.
They no longer will work, not when we read that “several ministers were said to be considering whether to go“ (link, paywalled). Of course we’re not told who they may be. Funny, innit, that yon snake in the grass, the one who’s just presented that ‘Levelling Up’ White Paper, isn’t mentioned at all: not as behind-the scenes puppet handler, not as possible Johnson replacement. I find that rather suspicious.
And isn’t it amazing how Johnson’s ‘initiatives’, such as his warnings to Putin, are simply vanishing from the MSM’s pages. This just goes to show that the whole Westminster swamp, from the lowliest new MP to the PM, from the chief editors of our papers to the hacks collecting Whitehall gossip, have abandoned the fate of our country while indulging in a modern day ‘Game of Thrones’.
SAGE, covid, the damage done to our country, the waste of our money, the rise in energy prices, inflation and even the war mongering: they are unimportant compared to gossiping about the coming ‘assassination’ of the PM.
The Westminster hacks don’t realise that we couldn’t care less, that we know it has become irrelevant who sits in No 10. We know that the true ‘players’ are the Whitehall mandarins with their shady connections both to the MSM and to some more global ‘players’. If it weren’t so serious, affecting our lives in unpredictable ways, it were a thrilling theatre performance with which to wile away the tedium of a winter weekend.
Actually however it’s a perfect occasion for ‘sich fremdschämen’ for this despicable spectacle.
Had trouble posting comments on and off lately. Sometimes I can, sometimes I get stuck in a loop of accept/reject cookies then nothing doing!
Vernon Coleman has an interesting theory that we are given particularly bad politicians so that we’ll get fed up with national politicians and get softened up for the One World Govermment. Its an interesting observation at least. Lets hope the One World Government doesn’t materialise. The truckers are good news, but we must always be vigilant. Our enemies won’t give up that easily.
An interesting observation. One world government is certainly on the agendas of the UN and WEF etc.
At the next General Election I will probably not bother to vote. The way Parliament and the Civil Service behave totally discourages people. I voted Conservative because I wanted the UK to be a country independent legally, financially and politically independent of the EU.
Why did I bother voting? Parliament would probably vote to re-join the EU without considering the views of the electorate. I have yet to see any pro EU supporter put up an economic case and political case for joining the EU. When there is a “5th column rejoin the EU parliament” parliament will once again ignore the British voter. Boris had his negotiating wing clipped in 2019 by a “5th column rejoin the EU parliament”.
Do I trust my local MP, it has to be remembered that he represents around 60,000 voters with individual views. I disagree with some of his voting. The Prime Minister relies on his advisors to help him or her. Look at the Northern Ireland Protocol, which was negotiated when Mrs T May was the Prime Minister, the Civil service were involved and should have said NO more often to the EU.
Why is the country still using VAT? VAT was introduced when Parliament sold out the UK to the EEC. A wise, clever and forward thinking Chancellor would have jumped at the chance of using Purchase /Sales Taxes. What does our present Chancellor do, he follows what is now the traditional use of stealth taxes and National Insurance Taxes. He also breaks one of the three links to state pension increases. I assume that he is waiting to break one of the now two remaining links as soon as possible. For all his faults I doubt whether Gordon ‘Prudence’ would have been as callous.
Why not join UKIP or some other centre Right party? They may not get into office but if enough of us join, success may follow. Failing that what about voting for an Independent or as a last resort to register your displeasure simply write NOTA across your ballot paper which will then be counted and registered as a spoilt paper.
Jake…..I just cannot see UKIP progressing any further than they are now, no more than I can see the Heritage Party doing any better either. It was really important that parties like these two put up strong candidates at the Southend West by election, who were able to string a sentence or two together, and be able to hold their own in a debate, but they failed, and failed miserably. That by-election was the ideal occasion to make an impression bearing in mind the other mainstream parties and Reform UK did not stand candidates, and there will never be a better time to have increased their share of the vote. In my honest opinion UKIP will always be hampered by the fact that they failed to re-brand themselves when they had the opportunity to do so, and apart from Neil Hamilton who is getting on, they have no big hitters any longer and are considered an irrelevance even by former active members/activists. When a supposed party like Psychedelic Movement which are on par with the Monster Raving Loony Party come second in a poll, you know things are bad. To me at least the messaging that they put out was all wrong, and will never appeal to the majority of voters, even when the governing party of the country is so unconservative as the Conservative Party are right now. Maybe it was fortuitous that Reform UK decided to put up a candidate this time round, but on the other hand they might have walked it considering how dire all the other parties are.
Colin I did suggest a few options to David rather than him doing nothing but I would dearly love more support for UKIP. You are right that UKIP should be doing better under the current circumstances but hopefully we will get a small breakthrough soon and build on that. Next by election in Leicester I think
I grant you, more members means more activists and hopefully more able and competent election candidates. Its pointless selecting someone as an election candidate because because there was nobody else available. In my experience with UKIP that was invariably the case, there being always a shortage of able and competent candidates who were prepared to put in the hours and commitment required and prepared to go canvassing on the doorstep. In the major mainstream parties there is always a large pool of candidates and the best one is selected via an interview etc, which is the way it should be done. I was on the point of re-joining UKIP as a member, but this latest result makes me feel is it really worth the hassle any longer.
I haveno idea what the present members of ukip think they are doing or why ,but it ain’t very interesting, it’s indistinguishable from theTori,es and Labour. As long as its run by a committee, and organised to fail, and full of wannabee nice to, or the same as, important people. thats what they’ll be. Maybe. Eventually.
A small breakthrough is no good Jake. People are just not good enough. Opportunities are everywhere. Ukip ignores, or more likely doesn’t recognise them. And certainly never made ready or thought. It’s hopeless. I could weep.
VAT law gives government license to pry into every minute detail of any business to ferret out anything they suspect. No excuse is given or allowed.
Colin It is no hassle whatsover at the moment. I simply hand over £30 every year. It is the very least I can do until (hopefully at some point) there are sufficient members to establish a constituency branch.
Jake….I have never been the sort of member content to pay the annual subscription, and then sit back and think job done and that it is somebody else’s job to sit on committees, and stand as an election candidate, pro-actively raise funds, produce local newsletters and campaign literature and recruit more local members and chase up those who have allowed their memberships to lapse. Unfortunately that is what the majority do however, and in parties like UKIP it is always the few who are party activists who go that extra mile and do all those things. I sincerely hope that you are not one of those members who are content just to pay the annual subscription and do nothing else. If there are three members in your local constituency, then that is sufficient to start a constituency association and fill the primary officer roles of Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer.
TG Stokes…….I (the resident stalker in Biscotte’s eyes) actually agree with the point you are making here. UKIP are not interesting or engaging enough, and that is why so few vote for them. And a small breakthrough of a rise in vote share from 1% to 2%, and being happy with that is no good at all. Political parties with serious ambitions of a proper electoral breakthrough need to be breaking the 20% vote share barrier to stand any chance of getting council seats or a seat in parliament. It is simple as that. As it stands at the moment I just cannot see UKIP or any other right of centre political party getting anywhere near that territory, as the electorate do not buy into the policies they are promoting, or the way they are presented. The key to success however is Nigel Farage. He is the only political figure who has the charisma and capabilities to pull it off.
That IS an interesting comment ” yet to see a case for rejoining EU “. Is there one ? I wonder ? Is it artificially supressed ? They are active enough, but not vocal. ?
David T. I agree that VAT was introduced in preparation for Heath selling the country out to the EEC. But I think it is unrealistic to expect to go back to purchase tax.
The point is that now we can do whatever we like with VAT. Obviously Sunak SHOULD take it off all ENERGY. Thus enabling Individuals and Industries to lower their ESSENTIAL costs. Heat and light is just as essential as food !!
Sunak, or his Department is still stuck in the EU mindset that taxes must be raised, or kept up, to meet the annual cost of running the bureaucracy. But all their projections are wrong. They are always too pessimistic.
Added to which, if taxes were lower, productivity would be greater, then income from taxation would rise.
Also, any shortfall is only owed to ourselves, because it is owed to the Bank of England which we own.
AND it does NOT have to be paid by future generations either. That debt has not been paid for several centuries.
At least spoil you ballot paper with a suitable comment.
It’s the second week of the Canada Truckers Freedom Convoy. Here are some of the scenes from Ottawa. Justin Trudeau is not best pleased and this is his address to the nation.
https://twitter.com/ChickenGate/status/1489334216672305152
The supreme Emperor-has-no-clothes moment. If people cannot now see this odious tyrannical creep, and by comparison so many more, for what he is, they deserve all they get.
He is a lunatic Ceri and hopefully he will be gone soon.
Richard Drax MP has a letter in the Telegraph today in which he accurately describes the job of truly conservative Gvt (as opposed to the current socialist, confiscatory Conservative travesty)
Richard Drax for PM
But Helena don’t we all know that the hymn sheet Drax sings from would not be the same hymn sheet he sang from were he to achieve high office? Cameron, May and Doris have all played this game. Fool me once, …….!
We also know the executive will not deliver conservative policies because the Party is bought and paid for by corporations and very wealthy donors who would have us back in the EU tomorrow if they could. IMHO the only way this rotten party can turn itself around is if constituency associations become uber activists in weeding out MPs that are of a centre left dispostion. We know who they are but the associations just haven’t the grit and determination to take action. It was this inaction, which led me three decades ago to abandon the party completely. What kind of Tory party association is it that tolerates someone like Theresa May for example? If and when these people are deselected I may start to believe they are reforming until then I wouldn’t trust the Tories as far as I could throw them.
Jake Bennett at 2.15pm 5/Feb. The same holds true for Labour surely Jake Bennett. It is the way that the Parties have developed since the 19th Century.
It is the main argument FOR ALL M.P.s to be INDEPENDENTS.
My present CON M.P. does actually work hard for his Constituency’s interests. The previous LAB M.P. did nothing except twist and turn, to support Corbyn’s views, on all and every subject.
I am relatively lucky this time but I’m most likely to vote N.O.T.A. in future.
I have no words for these treacherous leeches I just hope their fall is spectacular. I Forced a “push” this morning by discovering you have been labelled a virus threat. Gates must be worried!
There are blobs within blobs but Westminster, the MSM, and the civil service together form one that is impossibe to reform. The big state socialist conservative party is indistinguishable from big state Labour (when the camouflage of their occasionally differing rhetoric is removed) and both depend utterly on the civil service which these days is so powerful it can resist all attempts at reform. As the state grows to leviathan size, reaching into all areas of our life, it becomes a self-serving bureacracy so gargantuan and complex no minister can master it let alone instigate real change and reform. Cummings used to announce a “hard rain” on the civil service though he never revealed how it might be reformed (and the only reform was his departure). I think the only solution is not to vote. Turnout at by-elections has been declining but not yet significantly in general elections. The first past the post system renders it almost impossibe for an insurgent party to break through – even popular Farage could not so the current crop of uncharismatic leaders of little parties no-one has heard of have no chance – so that the only thing that would get noticed is a large, and I mean large, asbtension. In the French regional elections last year there was a near 70% absention rate – quite unprecedented – which shook the establishment. Pollsters for the Presidential elections in April say that their polls are unreliable because they are unable to gauge the likely absention rate (so do not attach too much significance to the polls – anything can happen in April). The French establishment, infused with EU mindset, came up with a more of the same required diagnosis to the public’s obvious rejection of their mindset. I doubt (hope) the British establishment would react the same way provided absentions here in the UK could reach 70% or more. Thus, I agree with Pat Condell who advises not voting as doing so only “encourages them”. Put another way, which is the more realistic goal? A small, radical populist party gaining power or abstenions reaching estabishment shaking proportions. The 2 million or so who voted for the first time in the 2016 referendum, because for once their votes counted, are now joined by ‘red wall’ leavers who, according to the analyst Matthew Goodwin, are not returning to Labour. They are just giving up. As someone who has not voted since the 2016 referndum I am hoping more people will join the ‘none of the above’ party. There is more prospect of us becoming a sizeable force to be reckoned with than one of the little parties – UKIP, Heritage, English Democrats, Reclaim etc., etc, – breaking through. Meanwhile, I am in fact a member of several little parties, socialise with them, and bung them each a few quid from time to time. If I am wrong and one of them becomes sginificant then I have supported them financially. My non-voting conscience is clear while I work out how to emigrate to Florida and support deSantos.
For once I agree with Stout Yeoman. The voting procedure for National, Local and County representatives needs revising. T Blair introduce proportional representation for the EU elections and suddenly UKIP won some seats. It is possible under the present first past the post system to elect a candidate who has not got a majority of votes i.e. 34%, 33% and 33%. The first past the post system needs replacing.
Hard to see the troughers agreeing to change the voting system. In any case, be careful what you wish for. It would lead to a Muslim party (Labour no longer needed) that, on current demographic trends, would achieve even more influence if not outright power. Bad enough that Sajid Jabbit was sworn into the House of Commons in Urdu on a Koran, or that more and more northern towns have muslim mayors dispensing with Christain prayers. UKIP or its children might get a seat or two but so would all manner of green, anti-capitalist parties, and PR government is an endless series of deals and compromises. I once thought PR was the solution until I attended this lecture by David Starkey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLLXRvejIeg
S.Y. at 3.00pm 5/2. Yes there certainly are dangers in a proportional representation system.
When N.F. was leader of UKIP he said that that Party would never Whip it’s M.P.s to vote along Party lines!
Unfortunately even if the Whip system was officially ‘abolished’ in the Commons it would still persist because every M.P. is hoping to climb the greasy pole.
Very sensible SY. Although, if I had an good Independent or centre Right challenger on the ballot paper, they would always get my vote. Haven’t voted for an establishment party for 30 years. Can’t understand the suckers who get drawn into the old ruse of voting for the least worst establishment party option. They may be the ones who perpetuate the rotteness at the heart of the political establishment.