Owen Paterson

[Troubled Joe]

Ooh, stuff is happening….

The Graun’s politics live is reporting that genetic cul-de-sac Jacob Rees Mogg is announcing a partial climb down….

[veravista]

Oh come on, at least Paterson was allowed to vote on the amendment...

Any guesses as to how?

Have written* to my potted plant MP about this, although now she's vaccines minister she's very, very busy.

* Along with letters about the support for D. Cummings, proroguing parliament illegally, breaking international law, starving schoolkids and dumping sh.t in rivers. Reckon this will get the same response.

PS anyone else think that JRM should have his raging dandruff seen to?

[Troubled Joe]

It was wrong to conflate an individual case with reform of the system generally apparently.

So with the lobbying shyster’s suspension stand?

Or are they going to let him off and then row back on the other stuff - so the exception to the rules existed for just long enough for him to be exonerated?

[OffTheRock]

I don't know why this bothers me as much as it does.

Its nothing I didn't know already.

It's nothing I didn't expect.

I know that the people of this country and the rules by which they should be governed are held in contempt by those who should uphold them.

There's nothing new here.

Why has it annoyed me so much?

Because it didn’t surprise you and one thing this brazen is now totally normal.

[jimbob]

Not sure my reply isn’t showing there but here we go….

Yes and no - anything like this will reflect worse on the party in power than the opposition; it’s obviously disingenuous in the extreme but better than ignoring it or going the “Hero MP escapes socialist kangaroo court stitch up” route

You'd responded inside WFJ's quote.

My point is that for a paper to align itself with a party is a feature of our press, and that's up to them - but for a paper to align with a point of view that parliamentary democracy is the problem, then that is seriously dangerous.

Exactly.

The "they're all as bad as each other" is a particularly bad take for that very reason.

Also what Little Waster said.

What annoys me is it such a sh.t hill for the Tories to choose to die on.

You could have sort of understood it if it was a near-hung Parliament and the loss of Paterson meant a temporary loss of majority or awkward by-election threatening to bring down the Government. But it isn’t.

Even in the worst case scenarios the Tories would still have a massive majority and would be probable favourites to win the by-election anyway so they could, for once, have taken the moral high ground and made an example of Paterson but they just can’t help themselves.

[Fishnut]

What annoys me is it such a sh.t hill for the Tories to choose to die on.

You could have sort of understood it if it was a near-hung Parliament and the loss of Paterson meant a temporary loss of majority or awkward by-election threatening to bring down the Government. But it isn’t.

I may be completely off here but it doesn't surprise me that they'd do it now. I think they feel pretty invincible, and if it doesn't work (which it looks like might be the case) then they haven't lost anything in the attempt. By the time the next election comes round most people will have forgotten about this and those that haven't weren't going to vote for them anyway.

[TimW]

It was wrong to conflate an individual case with reform of the system generally apparently.

It's strange, then, that he (Arse-Smeg) voted for it.

[Gfamily]

It was wrong to conflate an individual case with reform of the system generally apparently.

It's strange, then, that he (Arse-Smeg) voted for it.

When he was challenged in the house as to whether he would be equally concerned if it was an opposition MP being considered, Reet-Smug said "The lady should know me well enough to know that I would" Except that he hasn't

And Kwasi Kwarteng was on the Today programme this morning and was challenged about the morality of the government and made a comment along the lines of "What's moral is keeping our manifesto commitments, such as getting Brexit done" - sadly the interviewer didn't challenge back on their increase of NI rates.

[plodder]

This gradual hubris will catch them out. It happened to Major's lot and it'll happen here.

[Bird on a Fire]

How much worse would it have to get before it would be socially acceptable, at least within a sizeable minority, to simply kill them?

Asking for a class.

[dyqik]

I guess it would be pointless to start a petition calling for an in-depth investigation of the finances of every MP that voted for this?

[Opti]

Meanwhile, the rest of the nations around the world that were, apparently, gagging for a trade deal with the UK look on and see a failed, corrupt and mendacious State.
Authoritarian dictators around the world must be looking on and wondering why they put in all the hard yards to gain power. When all you need to do is win a democratic mandate.

[Bird on a Fire]

They're calling him, "Britain Tropical Trump."

[WFJ]

Meanwhile, the rest of the nations around the world that were, apparently, gagging for a trade deal with the UK look on and see a failed, corrupt and mendacious State.
Authoritarian dictators around the world must be looking on and wondering why they put in all the hard yards to gain power. When all you need to do is win a democratic mandate.

And as an emigrant it's just yet more evidence of what a tinpot little shithole Britain has turned into in the last 10 years.

[Opti]

My view is almost certainly coloured by me not living in the UK any more.

Perspective innit.

[Troubled Joe]

Ooh, he’s going to resign.

Boo f.cking hoo.

[tenchboy]

And he's gorn!
Says he wants a life outside of the cruel world that put an extra few hundred thousand quid in his pockets.

[Opti]

Like the rest of us, even he could see that he was about to get thrown under the bus arriving ... well, not now.

[TimW]

Should have resigned years ago.

[noggins]

What annoys me is it such a sh.t hill for the Tories to choose to die on.

It could even make you think that some of them must need the system trashed quick before it's their turn.

I thought that, but then why u-turn ?

[Troubled Joe]

What annoys me is it such a sh.t hill for the Tories to choose to die on.

It could even make you think that some of them must need the system trashed quick before it's their turn.

I thought that, but then why u-turn ?

Difficult to choose between a sh.t sandwich and a turd burger.

[dyqik]

So now he'll be able to get paid for arranging access to his mates without being required to declare it.

[IvanV]

I thought that, but then why u-turn ?

Maybe they fear the Trump-ish "it doesn' matter what I do my supporters will still vote for me" effect doesn't operate quite as strongly as for Johnson as for Trump. Since they appear to be heading for a relatively early election, an entirely open and visible attempt to facilitate corruption and sleaze by parliamentarians might have been inconvenient, or at least a risk they didn't fell like testing, when they saw how well it was playing in the press. The existing rules are weak enough most of them can continue on the make to some degree.

[TimW]

Authoritarian dictators around the world must be looking on and wondering why they put in all the hard yards to gain power. When all you need to do is win a democratic mandate.

You need the right kind of electoral system though. In a lot of places 44% of the vote doesn't mean that you get a big majority in the house.

[plodder]

I thought that, but then why u-turn ?

Maybe they fear the Trump-ish "it doesn' matter what I do my supporters will still vote for me" effect doesn't operate quite as strongly as for Johnson as for Trump.

I think it's this - core Tory vote is the Home Counties. Core Trump vote is rural poor. Very different demographics.