Tag Archives: withdraw

Boris Johnson drops out of Tory leadership contest – have there been shenanigans?

Boris Johnson: he’s out of the Tory leadership contest.

Does this count as the first time multiple philanderer Boris Johnson has ever withdrawn from anything?

And he doesn’t even have a good reason!

He has pulled out of the Conservative Party leadership election, despite claiming to have 102 nominations, which puts him beyond the number needed (although the BBC had been keeping its own count – and believed he had only 55).

According to the BBC, he has said:

“In the last few days I have been overwhelmed by the number of people who suggested that I should once again contest the Conservative Party leadership, both among the public and among friends and colleagues in Parliament.

“I have been attracted because I led our party into a massive election victory less than three years ago – and I believe I am therefore uniquely placed to avert a general election now.

“A general election would be a further disastrous distraction just when the Government must focus on the economic pressures faced by families across the country.

“I believe I am well placed to deliver a Conservative victory in 2024 – and tonight I can confirm that I have cleared the very high hurdle of 102 nominations, including a proposer and a seconder, and I could put my nomination in tomorrow.”

“There is a very good chance that I would be successful in the election with Conservative Party members – and that I could indeed be back in Downing Street on Friday.

“But in the course of the last days I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do. You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament.

“And though I have reached out to both Rishi (Sunak) and Penny (Mordaunt) – because I hoped that we could come together in the national interest – we have sadly not been able to work out a way of doing this.

“Therefore I am afraid the best thing is that I do not allow my nomination to go forward and commit my support to whoever succeeds.

“I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time.”

Do you believe any of that?

“I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do“?

When was Boris Johnson ever interested in the right thing to do?

Perhaps the next line provides more light:

“You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament.”

I don’t know what you think, but doesn’t it seem as though someone has had a word?

It ties in with what Russ Jones was telling us a few days ago – that the Conservative Party is a coalition of several warring factions, and leaders have only managed to succeed by uniting several of them behind their banner.

And it could also be an excuse.

It has also been suggested that, while Johnson would be an extremely popular choice among Conservative members, he would be electorally catastrophic for the party with most voters unwilling to forgive and forget the transgressions of his original period as prime minister – irrespective of whether MPs would unite behind him.

Also, with his withdrawal, does this leave the way clear for a Rishi Sunak coronation – as Penny Mordaunt has too few nominations to pass the threshold for participation?

Could one possibly argue that Johnson was brought in simply to take votes away from any other serious candidate, to ensure they could not progress through the process and, thereby, to deprive Conservative Party members of their democratic choice?

That would be a blow for the party faithful – especially as Johnson was their preferred choice. If he really does think he might “deliver” a Tory victory in 2024, he might have scuppered his own chances by betraying his home constituency.

So, what’s next?

Should we look out for an announcement that Sunak will be the next Tory leader and prime minister at some time on Monday (October 24)?

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Thousands demand Boris Johnson withdraws race report whitewash

Sulky: Boris Johnson thought he could gaslight us all with a report on racism that pretended it doesn’t exist in the UK’s government and institutions. He was wrong. Will he grow up, throw it away and make a start on tackling race prejudice? I think we all know the answer to that.

Boris Johnson is facing demands by more than 20,000 people to withdraw a report claiming there’s no institutional racism in the UK.

Instead, they say in an open letter that he should implement recommendations from previous investigations, to combat the institutional racism that Johnson’s report claims isn’t there.

Organisations including Charity So White, Liberty, the National Education Union, The Runnymede Trust and, yes, Black Lives Matter called on Johnson to “repudiate the … findings immediately and withdraw [the] report”.

Recommendations by Johnson’s Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities included:

  • Forcing school children from disadvantaged areas into extended school days to catch up on missed learning caused by the Covid-19 lockdown.
  • Better quality careers advice for children from disadvantaged backgrounds – to be funded by university outreach programmes (This Writer has a few doubts about whether this would happen in any case).
  • Research on why children from some communities do better than those from others, in order to replicate conditions that help all children succeed (again, this seems unlikely to happen).
  • Retirement of the acronym BAME because minority ethnic groups should be recognised for their differences rather than their mutual disadvantages (but doesn’t this open them up to discrimination because of those differences, which is exactly what the report should be avoiding?) and an end to unconscious bias training.

People named as contributors to the report have distanced themselves from it, with some saying government representatives used false pretences to secure their participation, or misrepresented their contribution.

An expert on race-related health inequalities said the report used outdated references and notably underplayed the impact of structural racism in health outcomes.

Sir Michael Marmot said there are health differences between races that are not fully explained by class, and so therefore racism must play some role.

And these are just some of the criticisms that have been lined up against Johnson’s report.

That’s why its lame recommendations have been dismissed by the more-than-20,000 signatories of the open letter.

They want recommendations from previously-published reports to be put into practice instead, like:

  • The Home Office appointing a Migrants Commissioner, develop a programme of cultural change for the department, and establish a race advisory board.
  • The justice system introducing targets for a more representative workforce, to reduce race-related bias; allowing low-level offenders to “defer” prosecution and opt for a rehabilitation programme before entering a plea; and gathering more data on the ethnicity and religion of offenders.
  • Firms with more than 50 workers publishing a breakdown of their workforce by race and by how much they are paid (to establish any disparities between the different races).

To be honest, to This Writer, even these ideas seem like pussyfooting around the subject.

Those other reports, and Marmot’s work, and no doubt many others, have already established that the UK’s institutions are racist, and if measures to combat that racism haven’t been devised already, then I have to ask what all these commissions, organisations and pressure groups have been doing with their time.

So let’s have a bit of honesty about the real situation in the UK.

And then let’s have a bit of real action to put the prejudice in the past.

Source: Race report: Boris Johnson urged to withdraw ‘whitewashing’ inquiry – BBC News

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Johnson threatens to remove Tory whip from MPs voting against his Brexit Bill. Deja vu?

Dominic Grieve: here’s a former Attorney General from whom Boris Johnson removed the Conservative whip. Now Geoffrey Cox is facing the same – along with any other Tory MPs who may defy Johnson’s plan to u-turn against his previous policy, breaking international law in the process.

It is indeed reminiscent of last year – but back then, Boris Johnson was trying to coerce his colleagues into voting to uphold his EU Withdrawal Agreement. Now he’s trying to coerce them into voting against it.

What a vacillating political vacuum he is.

He’s gambling on enough of the 2019 Parliamentary intake being so stupid that they think loyalty to their leader is more valuable than loyalty to the law. It isn’t.

The fact is that anybody voting to break international law will have a stain on their reputation for the rest of their life. It will seriously harm their career but Johnson won’t tell them that because he’s too busy forcing them to give him what he wants.

So when Downing Street does this…

… the correct response (and I’m amazed that I’m using this person to present the argument) is this:

I wonder how many of Johnson’s 363 MPs (he is the 364th) actually realise this?

The situation has created contradiction after contradiction:

Plus, of course, if he starts expelling his own MPs, Johnson will make his own position weaker; he won’t have as large a majority in the House of Commons and he will have betrayed the trust of his ministers and backbenchers, who may reasonably expect him to take account of their concerns rather than threatening them.

But in all honesty, it may be too much to ask for enough Tories to defy Johnson’s tyrannical whip.

It would need a minimum of 47 Tories to rebel, and I think they’re too easily-herded.

So this seems likely:

That’s only a stop-gap solution, of course. The Lords cannot stop a Bill becoming law – especially in the face of government with a large Commons majority.

But if they delay it, other developments may render it moot. Trade negotiations are ongoing, and so is the debate within the Conservative Party.

The result of the first vote – today, September 14 – may determine the pattern of future events.

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Boris Johnson has again indicated he wants to trash your human rights. Are you paying attention?

Boris Johnson: he’s getting exactly what he wants from Brexit – stripping you of your human rights so he can force you to do anything he likes.

Boris Johnson has again stated that he wants the UK to quit the European Convention on Human Rights, as part of post-Brexit talks with the EU.

Rabid Brexiteers among you may think this has no bearing on anything other than our trading position with the European bloc – but that’s just ignorance, right?

The simple fact is summed up in this tweet:

It’s the only logical conclusion: refusing to stay in the European Convention on Human Rights means Johnson wants to strip you of those rights.

(He probably thinks they’re just guidelines.)

So he might take away the prohibition of torture or “inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. That would make the Department for Work and Pensions’s treatment of sick, disabled and unemployed people much easier, after all.

He may remove the prohibition of slavery, servitude or forced labour. Restore serfdom and you end unemployment (technically).

Your right to a fair trial is all but gone already – especially in civil cases (they cost a fortune, believe me. Do you think you could afford one?) and it’s a small step from their to getting rid of your right to liberty. Johnson thinks you’re property, you see.

I definitely think he’ll do away with your right to privacy. We already live in a surveillance society and would-be dictator Johnson will certainly want to keep tabs on any signs of rebellion against his rule.

Freedom of religion is likely to go, one way or another. Johnson is a racist and Islamophobe, as we know. So the prohibition against discrimination will be for the heave-ho, too.

Does anybody really think he’ll let us keep our right to freedom of expression? Any dissenting voice, I suspect, will be put down harshly.

Freedom of association will probably go – that way he’ll be able to get rid of those pesky trade unions for once and for all.

And has anybody noticed that he’s said nothing at all about restricting his own rights and privileges?

I hate to admit it but Ed Davey (an unsavoury character himself) is right: “Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings are determined to take power away from the British people and hoard it for themselves.”

And it’s too late for those of us who opposed it to do anything but watch.

As for those who voted Johnson in, making it possible for him to strip you of your rights… Will you think it was worth it in a few years’ time, when the full horror of what you’ve done has had time to sink in?

Source: Boris Johnson refuses to commit to keeping UK in human rights convention | The Independent

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Nigel Farage admits he was offered a peerage 48 hours before Brexit U-turn

Nigel Farage: You know the saying – everything before the ‘but’ is meaningless.

This is revealing:

Nigel Farage claimed he was offered a peerage 48 hours before blinking first in his Brexit stand off with Boris Johnson.

The Brexit Party chief was forced to scrap plans to stand candidates in hundreds of seats amid mounting warnings he risked scuppering EU withdrawal.

He claimed he was offered a peerage on Friday night – just two days before his screeching U-turn boosted the Prime Minister.

Mr Farage says it had no effect on his decision:

But he denied the Christmas bauble was behind his decision – and vowed to snub the offer.

But is he protesting too much?

Source: General election: Nigel Farage admits he was offered a peerage 48 hours before Brexit U-turn – Mirror Online

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BBC reverses decision to censure Munchetty – but what about its institutional racism?

Naga Munchetty: victim of institutional racism at the BBC?

The BBC has made the right choice for the wrong reason.

Director General Tony Hall has announced the retraction of a decision to censure Naga Munchetty over comments she made about racism by Donald Trump – after the corporation’s complaints unit was revealed to have acted in a racist way itself.

The retraction happened only after leaked information showed the executive complaints unit had ignored the part of the complaint that referred to Dan Walker, as well as Ms Munchetty.

She is one of the BBC’s most prominent minority ethnic journalists, while he may be described as “White British”.

This raises a question about racism in the BBC. Why was the part of the complaint against Mr Walker ignored while that against Ms Munchetty was upheld?

And why did the BBC try to cover it up? This part of the matter was only revealed after the text of the complaint was leaked to other news media.

It seems clear that the BBC has a problem with institutional racism. This Writer hopes that Ofcom, which is currently investigating BBC impartiality – or the lack of it, has taken note.

The BBC has reversed its decision to sanction BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty for breaking impartiality guidelines with her comments about Donald Trump, following a staff uprising against the ruling and enormous political pressure.

The U-turn over censuring her came after the Guardian obtained leaked internal correspondence casting doubts on public claims about the complaints process made by a senior BBC executive, as he attempted to explain why Munchetty’s co-host Dan Walker had escaped punishment, despite taking part in the same discussion.

The BBC’s editorial standards director, David Jordan, said Walker could not have been investigated because the single viewer complaint which led to the ruling did not mention the male presenter. “The simple fact is we haven’t had a complaint about Dan Walker’s role,” he said in one interview. “The complaint was about Naga Munchetty.”

However, copies of the viewer’s complaint leaked to the Guardian show that the original correspondence was explicitly about both Munchetty and Walker, leading to internal anger from BBC employees who demanded that women and minority ethnic journalists should be treated fairly by the corporation.

On Monday night, BBC employees said the issue had reignited wider concerns about on-screen diversity at the corporation and how the BBC treated prominent senior white, male journalists differently to staff from a minority ethnic background.

The decision also raises major questions about the BBC’s ability to enforce its impartiality guidelines in the future, given the director general has now shown himself willing to intervene and overturn ruling by the semi-independent complaints unit in face of public pressure.

Oh, and is Ofcom still examining the complaint with reference to its own rules and regulations?

Source: Naga Munchetty: BBC reverses decision to censure presenter | Media | The Guardian

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The 21 Tories ejected from their party for voting with their consciences

Boris Johnson: How did it all go wrong so soon?

Dictator Johnson has gone through with his threat and withdrawn the whip from 21 now-former Conservative MPs.

The list includes extremely high-profile names including Father of the House Ken Clarke and Philip Hammond, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer until only six weeks ago (at the time of writing).

Also out are recent Conservative leadership candidate Rory Stewart, Oliver Letwin, Dominic Grieve, David Gauke and Nicholas Soames (who is entirely forgettable apart from being Winston Churchill’s grandson).

And Guto Bebb, who said he would vote against the government, has also been ejected for going through with it.

Others include: Richard Benyon, Steve Brine, Alistair Burt, Greg Clark, Justine Greening, Sam Gyimah, Stephen Hammond, Richard Harrington, Margot James, Anne Milton, Caroline Nokes, Antoinette Sandbach and Ed Vaizey.

Boris Johnson started his first Parliamentary session as prime minister with 311 MPs and a majority of one. He ends it with just 289 MPs and the stigma of being the first PM since Pitt the Younger to lose his very first Parliamentary vote.

It all bodes well for the future.

Tory rebels are set to call Dictator Johnson’s bluff

He THINKS he’s the law: Dominic Cummings, the Leave campaigner now seen as Boris Johnson’s top henchman, warns Tory rebels including David Gauke, Philip Hammond and – is that Theresa May or Ken Clarke? Michael Gove cheers him on while Dictator Johnson, wrapped in a Union Flag like a good ultra-nationalist fascist, watches from the background in this cartoon by Morton Morland.

Tory MPs who say they will not support Boris Johnson’s “no deal” Brexit may stand as independent Conservatives if he goes through with his threat to withdraw the whip from them – effectively expelling them from his party in Parliament.

The Dictator’s warning is already seen as an empty threat by many, as he would lose his majority in Parliament if he goes through with it.

And if BoJob’s government falls as a result, then he will not be leader and will be unable to follow through his threat to stop them standing as Tory election candidates.

So it could be crippling to him that as many as 20 Tory MPs are preparing to defy him:

The Mirror report, to which the tweet links, states that potential rebel MPs had been expecting to attend a meeting with Mr Johnson today (September 2), but this was cancelled after David Gauke appeared on a TV interview and said he was prepared to stand as an independent candidate in a future election, in the “national interest”.

BoJob said he would hold a “summit” meeting with Philip Hammond instead, but it seems unlikely that this will mollify the potential rebels.

The Dictator’s ultimatum means MPs who were cabinet ministers just six weeks ago may find themselves ejected from the party they used to lead in a matter of days – including, possibly, former prime minister Theresa May.

Also in the firing line are Philip Hammond, David Gauke and Dominic Grieve.

Some leading members of the Johnson camp have – astonishingly – claimed that nobody will be deselected at all, in what seems a transparent attempt to deflect attention away from what’s going on – particularly with reference to the apparent rebel ringleader, David Gauke:

It has been suggested that James Cleverly’s tweet may be deleted soon, so let’s just repeat its claim: “THERE IS NO DESELECTION MECHANISM IN THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY. We have had these Leave EU stories amplified by the press for months and no Conservative MP has been deselected. David Gauke is a great MP and a huge asset to our party.”

The threat from the Johnson camp has already been likened to a Stalinist purge, with some commentators pointing out that the only reason the mass media aren’t using those words is because it is happening in the Conservative Party and not Labour:

Indeed, the fact that Labour has not purged any MPs is being used against the Johnson regime:

But the most clear comparison is with Adolf Hitler – against whom Dictator Johnson has actually made himself appear the less acceptable figure:

Some have even adopted the optimistic view that this crisis could finish the Conservatives for good:

https://twitter.com/SurreyAmps/status/1168171760522604546

This Writer would not go that far. Conservatives are resilient and seem to have the survival instinct of the mythical hydra; cut off their head and two more will take its place.

And they are wily, too. Where the stick seems ineffective, Johnson and Cummings may try to apply the carrot and bribe their wayward colleagues back into line.

But the possible loss of his majority could represent a quantum leap forward in the battle against Boris Johnson’s bid to become the UK’s dictator.

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Mercer’s threat may be toothless, but it demonstrates May’s loss of control

Show of defiance: Johnny Mercer reckons he can exploit Theresa May’s weakness to demand action on a single issue. What if large numbers of Conservatives follow suit?

There’s not really much point in withdrawing support from the government over everything but Brexit when Brexit is all that’s left on the agenda.

Still, Johnny Mercer’s decision to make a stand – no matter how weak – on the prosecution of British servicemen over historical allegations demonstrates very clearly Theresa May’s loss of authority.

She has no Parliamentary majority now; her alliance with the DUP has been used up and it will cost another vast amount of public money to renew it, if she even thinks that would be worthwhile.

Some Conservative MPs have quit to join Change UK and one is facing the loss of his seat after being convicted of expenses fraud.

Now Mr Mercer has made a show of resistance.

Will others – who may be in a position to do more damage – do the same?

Conservative MP Johnny Mercer says he has withdrawn his support for the government over the historical prosecution of British servicemen.

A former Army officer, Mr Mercer called on Theresa May in a letter to end the “macabre spectacle of elderly veterans being dragged back to Northern Ireland” to face possible prosecution.

In his letter to the prime minister, the Plymouth Moor View MP said he found investigations into historic allegations surrounding ex-services personnel “personally offensive”

He said he was not to prepared to vote for Government legislation – except on Brexit – until the Government took “clear and concrete steps” to end the “abhorrent process”.

Source: Johnny Mercer: Tory MP withdraws support for government over historical prosecution of servicemen | The Independent

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RUMBLED: Agony for Auntie as BBC bid to host Brexit debate is canned

True blue BBC: It seems there’s a reason the signage is that colour.

Wow. And only a couple of days ago we were discussing Theresa May’s mid-air hissy fit. That was nothing in comparison with this!

After Jeremy Corbyn gave the BBC’s proposed format for a TV debate on Brexit the bum’s rush, the BBC News press team has dramatically withdrawn its offer to host the event.

Representatives of the Corporation said they weren’t interested in hosting a straightforward, head-to-head confrontation, as demanded by Mr Corbyn.

Based on this evidence, it would be hard to believe the BBC was not acting as a stooge for the Conservative leader.

Here’s the statement from the BBC News press team:

For those who can’t read images, it says [with my commentary in bold]: “We are disappointed that we could not reach an agreement on the BBC’s proposal for a debate on Brexit.” Fair enough.

“We have been clear throughout the whole of this process that, as well as a substantive head-to-head debate, any programme we broadcast would need to include other voices, including other political parties, to reflect the wide range of views the public and parliamentarians hold about Brexit.” That was a mistake; the challenge was for a head-to-head debate and it was not the BBC’s business to try to change it… unless Mrs May had intimated that she would support this when she was negotiating this in one of the meetings that allegedly took place before she issued the challenge?

“The final proposal we put to both of the main parties was for a head-to-head debae between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, followed by a discussion between eight panellists, including politicians, with a wide range of views on Brexit, and ending with further head-to-head debate and closing statements. That’s a terrible idea. It provides far too much leeway for the BBC to stack the show with anti-Corbyn sentiment – or to be criticised for it. The BBC, often criticised for pro-Tory content, may have had a lucky escape there.

“We believe ours was a fair and appropriate format for those taking part and, crucially, for our audiences around the country, and it is a shame we will not be able to bring them this programme.” And this is why we called the Corporation “Auntie”. BBC bosses seem to think they know what’s good for us. In terms of politics, it should never be the BBC’s business to try to tell us what to think.

“However, we will keep our audiences informed with extensive news coverage and analysis around the vote, and with other programmes including a Brexitcast ‘takeover’ of the One Show tomorrow [December 5] and a specially half-hour programme on Monday 10 December.” Given what the Corporation just revealed about itself, perhaps even that is too much.

The withdrawal of the BBC leaves just one contender to host the debate: Jeremy Corbyn’s preference – ITV.

This puts Mrs May in something of a quandary.

It seems clear she has been trying to manoeuvre Mr Corbyn into a position where she can accuse him – of not understanding her Brexit plan; of trying to sabotage Brexit; or even of running away from a TV debate.

But now, with her BBC set-up scotched and all the smart money saying she won’t agree to the ITV plan, it seems that – once again – Mrs May will be the one accused of “running away”.

In fact, the Labour Party has done that already.

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