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David Cameron steps down Yes, Cameron has finally handed the keys to No.10 to the even more dismal Theresa May. Frankly the only REMAIN who should still be in Downing Street should be Larry the Cat.
Remember this ‘honourable gentleman’ (Dave, not Larry) said he would invoke Article 50 if REMAIN lost? He lied. And that he would remain PM if REMAIN lost? He lied (thankfully).
Good riddance.
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And meanwhile on this side of the pond Uncle Bernie has endorsed Hillary the Hun. Having BS endorsing the former First Bitch is somewhat like Trotsky endorsing Stalin.
Personally, I’d replace the “collar” for Larry the cat.
I love what Cameron did. I don’t love what he tried to do, but I love what he did. His consequences are far better than he was. Cameron made a total hash of EUrope, by his own reckoning. But not by mine.
A similar point applies also to May. When politicians say they will do stupid stuff, they often fail, or lie, or both.
AFAIK, he hasn’t gone to see the Queen yet. Mrs May has risen to power like flatulence in a jacuzzi, popping out of cover in the maelstrom when the time is right, appearing mysteriously with no one claiming ownership of the unpleasant whiff.
Actually, come to think of it, I think there was one thing that Cameron tried very consciously to accomplish, which he got very close to accomplishing, and which he may yet be regarded as having accomplished, with massive help from the thing itself.
Destroy the Labour Party. Discuss, as they say.
And, as I should have said in the above comment, destroying the Labour Party is something I very much approve of.
Really? I am shocked, shocked I tell you 😀
The Labour Party is doing a very good job of destroying itself. It needs no help from the Old Etonian fop.
To be fair, they’re doing a good enough job of destroying themselves. With both Eagle and Smith challenging Corbyn, they are in the incompetent position of fielding two unity candidates!
To think we ever trusted them with the keys to Trident!
The Labour Party need no longer exist with the current Conservative Party, and workers’ and consumers’ representatives on Company boards. Mr Cameron may have made Labour redundant, but he has not destroyed its ideas.
The Tories aren’t necessarily in the best of shape either, though, is it? UKIP membership is rising by the hour, and while I’m no campaigner for a single-party system (those almost invariably go very wrong very quickly), I must admit to a bit of schadenfreude to see both establishment parties rip themselves to shreds by their own actions.
So after all this, a supposed rejection of statist coercion, the U.K. is to be led by the likes of May ad Rudd.
What ever made you think it was that? Maybe 35-40% (me for example) voted against the superstate, but the rest voted because “darkies are takin’ our jawbs” 😉
That’s a very quotable line Mr Ed. I might spread it around. The line; not the whiff.
Perry,
So 12% of the leave vote were from Alabama?
Gregory,
I wouldn’t bet on the Conservatives being in that bad shape – as a party they seem pretty good at surviving (if most sociologists were not left-wing idealists blinded by hate, there would perhaps be a very good study on institutional survival there).
There is a big problem with the destruction of the Labour party.
Yes, under Corbyn it will be completely unelectable. But the thing that has replaced it will not tolerate it’s voice being ignored. It is going to go from shrill, to viscious, to violent. It has no manners, rules, or decency, and is millions strong. The media and intelligentsia either support or apologise for it. The establishment have shown no appetite to criticise it, cross it, or crush it.
It will take to the streets.
I reckon we’re in for a rough time over the next five years.
Polls consistently put democracy as the leading reason for leaving. The economy and immigration jostled for a distant second place.
I would be delighted if that is indeed the case, but please link to the polls to which you refer as the ones I have seen suggest otherwise.
Perry de Havilland, see Lord Ashcroft’s article on Conservativehome blog, reasons to leave and reasons to remain are listed about a third down the page.
” . . . will not tolerate it’s voice being ignored.”
I raised three children from birth to young adulthood, and your phrase captures the essence of their first twelve or thirteen years of life.
I recall that their insistence was never reason to give in to them.
Perry de Havilland (London) July 13, 2016 at 4:08 pm and July 13, 2016 at 5:28 pm “Maybe 35-40% (me for example) voted against the superstate, but the rest voted because “darkies are takin’ our jawbs””
Allowing for your comic exaggeration, I still think you are too harsh on the voters who gave us the victory. “Go out and get me an opinion poll that shows leavers as xenophobic racists” is an easy task for our elite – straight out of Yes, Prime Minister. I of course prefer the polls Chip saw that had democracy as the lead issue – which may influence my opinion that they were the results of less interested questioning. (Noone ever asked me my opinion during the campaign 🙂 so I have zero personal experience.)
But I also think that people who don’t welcome competition for jobs (if you ask them that) can also resent welfare tourists, gimmegrants, terrorists and those who come here intending to make Britain assimilate to them – and can order these groups morally in the same way you or I would. So when that interacts with the realities of how ineffectual government is, it is likely that profitable activities will continue more than state-sponsored idiocies. And I think those people can also have an instinctive dislike of being told what to think, say and do – and know that the elite love inflicting all that on them. Things could be much better. But I think we can get our “right answers” out of Leave voters with far less fakery than the elites.
On another point of this thread, some blogs up here (Scotland) seem to take it for granted that May was in fact a Leaver too cowardly to declare herself one, since she thought Remain would win. This would say nothing good of her character but, if true, would suggest she could adapt to the new reality. Anyone know if that opinion of her is sense, nonsense, unknowable, …?
I retain my belief that offering your party members an election for leader and then snatching it away is unwise.
“I retain my belief that offering your party members an election for leader and then snatching it away is unwise.”
Don’t let Malcolm Turnbull hear you say that.
🙂
And Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary might in part mean that May is not wholly unaware of that.
I can not say I will miss Mr Cameron or Mr Osborne.
As for the new Prime Minister.
I did not support the lady – but I wish Mrs May well.
It is only fair to give Mrs May a fair chance.
Although I will not get my hopes up.
Brian Micklethwait wrote:
Politicians fail to do stupid stuff? 😉 And I’d think a politician promising to do stupid stuff was telling the truth, if only unintentionally.
“The politics of failure have failed. We must make them work again.”
Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union – David Davis
George Osborne has left the government – sacked by May.
Now THAT is actually encouraging!
Very happy so far. Gove back at education or justice please.
You know I said please, please, please let Boris Johnson be foreign secretary? ‘Cos it would be funny?
The Hive Queen reads Samizdata.
I am just slightly wary that David Davis might become Jim Hacker, the Minister of Administrative Affairs.
“He lied”.
Well, you know…politican.
Ted,
The only good thing about politicians is when they promise to do stupid shit, they’re lying then also.
😉
Mr. Ed, David Davis is actually a great choice 🙂 I did say it would be easy for May to pleasantly surprise me, given that I have such very low expectations, but this is indeed a pleasant surprise. And Boris as foreign secretary should be hilarious! 😀
Perry, I too am delighted with the post-speech developments. It’s great that he doesn’t even have any office space (yet). Why not a portacabin in Downing St, to concentrate minds on the need for haste?
David Davis as Sec’y of State for Brexit is a most excellent choice. I really wasn’t expecting that; I was expecting Brexit-lite. Even though May said there would be no attempt to re-enter the EU through the back door, I didn’t trust her to deliver. But Davis is, I reckon, about as safe a pair of hands for Brexiteers as we could ask ask for. He has an anti-EU record that goes back decades.
And BoJo as Foreign Sec’y. Man, there isn’t enough popcorn in the world. This is going to be great fun. 🙂
I may have to revise my opinion of May. Maybe. There’s still the domestic front to be considered.
Some good developments. But what about Gove? Her team and his have always hated each other.
Lets not get too chipper just yet.
In the Daily Wail Hammond–one of her creatures I believe–is talking six years to Brexit. Including four while we wait for the rest of them to “ratify” any agreement.
In the meantime will they be wanting a massive wedge from us to help bail out the Italian banks? Will we be obliged to accept Merkel’s Turkish dirty deal while we wait?
Davis has been out in the cold a long time. Akin to death for the political egoist. Who knows what deals he has made to get back in. Assuming his appointment is not just a sop to throw a few crumbs of false hope to Brexiters.
She can appoint him –she doesn’t have to back him.
I’m not so optimistic – but there again, my wifes nickname for me was Eeyore …
May appears to be spouting the usual, left wing, right on, politically correct boilerplate claptrap. From todays Daily Mail:
It could be any speech from any labour politician from the last 50 or more years. Remind me again, what is the difference between the labour and Conservative and Union parties?
I doubt history will judge Mr. Cameron very kindly, but I’m not sure Mrs. May is an improvement. I wouldn’t let her near me unless I could see both her hands.
Scott Shackford at Reason really dislikes Ms. May.
David Davis is going to be undermined right from the start. He’ll likely resign at some point.
An awful lot of people on here seem determined to be miserable, for me it’s “Oh frabjous day, calloo callay”. Angela Eagle hearing Bojo was Foreign Sec’y, was like the jabberwocky meeting the vorpal sword. The bitter remnants agony is prolonged as they choke on their coffee this morning.
In truth, the appointment of Boris as FS is just about the most awesome thing ever. This is the gift that will just keep on giving 😀
Ljh, July 14, 2016 at 7:19 am: “An awful lot of people on here seem determined to be miserable”
When something is offered and then snatched away (in fishy-looking manner), a feeling of grumpiness is understandable. I think of how I would have felt three weeks less one day ago if we’d lost, and that protects me against feeling too grumpy.
Boris is ideally placed as foreign secretary – and not just for the reasons Natalie gives. He will acquire that “ministerial experience:” that was one of the arguments against him. And every time he annoys foreigners, whether unjustly or even justly, he’ll become more popular in Britain – which makes him more of a viable challenger. Davis, were he to find himself obviously undermined, is already that. Precisely because they dodged a party-wide vote this time, I would not give tuppence for their chance of pulling that off a second time.
Thus while May may be awful, there are constraints on how awful she can be. It is of course sad to be reduced to hoping the lefty boilerplate she spouts is ruthless lying to keep the beeb quiet while she takes over. And even more so to think of things in her past that suggest it may be worse than that. But think of a Friday three weeks ago and cheer up. We are already so much better off than we were.
Reading over my comment, just after I hit send, I realise I meant to write “every time he annoys foreigners, whether justly or even unjustly” or else to write “every time foreigners are annoyed by him, whether unjustly or even justly,”.
However maybe the comment reads just as well as it is. 🙂
I agree Perry – I am glad to see Mr Osborne go, and I am glad to see the return of David Davis.
I could be wrong about David Davis – but I believe him to be an honourable man.
As Stephen Glover said in the Mail this morning, the fact that arch Europhiles Amber Rudd and Alan Duncan were seen with beaming smiles this morning makes me uneasy. As does Hammond’s 6 years to exit statement.
Amber Rudd has been given significant promotion. Unless you think the EU matters to her more than her career, her smile is undiagnostic.
I think Rudd is a significant Europhile. And is Alan Duncan to be put in to the Cabinet? Hope not.
I see now that Hunt hasn’t been sacked at all. His was one head I was looking forward to going.