Last summer, after her unnecessary and disastrous general election campaign, designed to give her a strong and stable majority as she went into Brexit negotiations, the Maybot was obliged to purchase the allegiance of Northern Ireland’s weird party of creationists, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) for a sum of somewhere between £1 billion and £1.5 billion to make up for the majority that she had just lost.
(Just a little aside here. I’m always a bit dubious about anything, party or country, with the word “democratic” in the title. If you need to tell people you are democratic, you probably aren’t… Democratic Republic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria… are you noticing a pattern?)
I’ve nothing against a coalition government or the compromises that are, perforce, a part of that kind of arrangement. But this wasn’t and isn’t a coalition arrangement, nor could it be, given the geographical limits of the DUP. It was and is, quite simply, a bribe to get for the Tories and May, the votes of DUP members in the House of Commons.
There are those who say that it was pretty much unnecessary. The DUP are the right wing, Protestant, unionist, queen and country (in short Tory) party of the province. Hardline Brexiteers, they would have voted, almost undoubtedly, with May even without a bribe.
But May couldn’t be sure of that, and what the hell, it wasn’t her money she was giving away.
(Another aside here: When the bribe was announced it caused consternation. Money above and beyond the budget to devolved government is supposed to be based on the Barnet formula. In other words, if NI gets money, so must, proportionately, the other countries of the UK. So our brave wee Viceroy Fluffy made a point of telling the BBC that he would not allow Northern Ireland to benefit from this sort of money without Scotland getting its fair share too. And that was the last we heard of it as Mrs May directed him to fetch the biscuits to go with her tea and he became permanently distracted with the more pressing matters of ensuring that the boss’s refreshments were supplied timeously or returning to the backbenches to be replaced by a wooden dummy….see below.)
Now, however, Gina Miller, the woman who took the UK government to court (and won) on whether or not parliament should have a say on the issuing of Article 50, has sent a legal warning to May that the £50 million pounds already paid to NI as part of this “arrangement” may be illegal, because it was given without being voted through parliament.
So, we shall see what we shall see…
Does anyone have an example of something Mayhem the Maybot has done that hasn’t gone horribly wrong?
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Jings, Tris, when I saw the last photo I thought Rees-Mogg had shrunk!
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He looks bigger when he’s sitting on her lap…
But no, he doesn’t aspire to be Moggy, who at least dares to have an opinion of his own, even if its source is the 18th century.
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Popcorn … CHECK
Irn Bru … CHECK
Whisky (for late night “celebratory refreshments” … CHECK
comfortable seating arrangements … CHECK
O.K. Feartie … I’m ready … you may proceed to lose this case now! 😂😂😂😂😂
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LOL. As my mum says, they aren’t up to much, but they are a sight more entertaining than politicians used to be.
Once upon a time you’d to wait for satirical tv and radio… now all you need to do is look at the news.
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The UK entry for this year Eurovision.
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LOL. That was brilliant…
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At first I thought the last picture was of Ross Thomson (MP Aberdeen South) on a good day.
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It was a very good day…
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Just when you think things can NOT get any worse, yeah I know Tris WE all know it can and it WILL, up steps the E.U. 27 with this wee beauty!
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-transition-period-eu-27-european-council-two-minute-discussion-sabine-wayand-michel-barnier-a8183556.html
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Loved Michel Barnier’s closing comment: “The Single Market cannot be ‘a la carte’!
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They were told and told and told.
You CAN’T have your cake and eat it, Boris, even if you went to Eton and Oxford and were in the Bullingdon Club.
Once it is eaten, it’s GONE.
Love the French expression for this: You can’t have the butter and the money for the butter.
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So, the 27 countries of Europe take 2 minutes to agree their strategy.
Meanwhile the countries (and London) of the Uk all want different things. And within the Labour Party and the Tory Party they want different things, and within the Cabinet they are spitting nails at each other, and haven’t a clue what they want.
And sitting atop this mess is the singularly least competent prime minister in living memory.
And people still want to be a part of this farce of a country?
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Tris, it seems a wee bit unfair to me that in the photographs Theresa May only gets to pose with one dummy but in each of the others Arlene gets to pose with two dummies.
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LOL, Andi. It just shows who the REAL boss is.
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Tris, her biggest success was going underground during the referendum unfortunately they rolled the rock away and she was allowed out to split the tory party exactly in half, then she cast the winning vote for herself.
The rest appear to be the hangover vegetables from thatchers last supper, her weakness is making promises that she never intends to keep since she hasn’t the ability to make fluffy’s tea
Democracy in the mother of parliaments has always been so, they couldn’t even fit in enough places for them to sit down.
Read the original House of Cards, its so accurate at prsent although it’s over 20 years since it was published.
Nobody will win your competition.
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Yes, she was cunning with her careful attitude during the referendum.
I read somewhere that Cameron was furious at her for her lack of input and made her join in, which she did half-heartedly.
I’ve seen the tv adaptation of House of Cards (English version). Is the book better?
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tris, the anglo version follows the book very closely, the bit on the tv i liked was when Ian Richardson spoke to the camera and you think he’s speaking to you. The whole point is that the chief whip has all the cards on the mp’s and manipulates their demise, so the prediction is the chief whip,whoever that might be, wins the next vote.
a good read, the american version was written to suit their democracy.
Nice wee earner for lord dobbs of Wylye
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I loved the tv one, but my mate had watched the American one and urged it upon me.
I can;t say I enjoyed it nearly as much.
To be fair I do enjoy the zaniness of American politics, and have liked bits of the West Wing that Danny’s sent me.
And of course I love the satirical work of Seth and SNL and Colbert amongst others.
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I think the Tory right wing is getting ready to pounce.
May gone by May?
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Well, it is said that if she does really badly in the council elections in England in May, she will face a challenge.
The question raised… would the British public accept a new prime minister at this stage without yet another general election? And then, could we seriously have a second general election during the two-year period of Brexit?
The last time around I think the world laughed a bit and thought it was bonkers. What would they think this time?
I understand that, in Davos, Dr Merkel asked her what Britain wanted from Brexit. She replied, “what are you offering?” Dr Merkel repeated… No, that’s not how it works. We need to know what you want.
May apparently, sans crib sheet, was lost. She just repeated: “What are you offering?”
Merkel retreated her head shaking in disbelief.
The description “Useless” is a real compliment to May.
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If they can portray Rees-Mogg as Churchill coming to the rescue 1940 style and May as Chamberlain then I think a lot of the “British Public” will fall for it.
And I’m sure that’s the wee picture Rees-Mogg has in his head anyway.
The tory right/hard brexiteers have to take over the process soon.
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Oh well, as someone once said, Bring it on!!!
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