Oh My! Boris Johnson rules himself out of Tory leadership race after Gove ditches him

[malaise]

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/30/boris-johnson-rules-himself-out-of-tory-leadership-race-brexit-eu-referendum
<snip>
Boris Johnson has unexpectedly ruled himself out of the Conservative leadership race hours after his key ally Michael Gove announced a challenge for the top job, on a turbulent morning.

Speaking at a hotel in central London, where he had been expected to launch his candidacy, Johnson gave an upbeat speech, saying the agenda for the next prime minister was for the UK to become a more outward-looking nation that resets its relationship with Europe.

-------------------------------
The backstabbing among British Cons is breath-taking.

[Adrahil]

1. My friends over there....

... seem to think Johnson is shell-shocked. He doesn't have a plan. He never had a plan. He's like the proverbial guy who got what he wished for and now has no idea what to do with it.

[Lucinda]

13. Agreed. His demeanor the day after the vote was telling.

Did you see The Dark Night? When I hear about people like Boris acting without a real plan for "afterwards"- I always default to that scene between Harvey Dent and The Joker at the hospital when The Joker answers Dent's question with

"Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just... *do* things."

[OnDoutside]

2. the latest insider info:

Boris out, Gove in, May in (all confirmed). Boris was told (by 1922 Committee) he would be divisive as ‘Leader’ and he wouldn’t be ‘Leader’ for long. Gove promised him the role of cabinet minister with special responsibility for EU oversight negotiations, providing he dropped out, possibly with Leadsom as deputy. May, won’t gather enough support beyond 2nd round. Crabb – no chance, fall at first fence.

[malaise]

21. Thanks for this info

Welcome to DU

[OnDoutside]

33. thanks !

[pampango]

3. So the 'Trump' of the UK could lead promote the chaos but had no plan of what to do next.

Surprise. Surprise. Let's hope Americans don't buy into the same 'surprise' in November.

[nolabear]

12. DOn't you hope someone starts openly making parallels?

Big mouth, no plan. That's our Donald!

[malaise]

49. Truth is he pulled out because he knew he could not win

Typical Boris. He's a pathological LIAR

[socialist_n_TN]

4. And yet the PLP instead of taking advantage of the Tory infighting..........

decided they wanted to destroy Labour too.

It's not just the Conservatives' backstabbing that's breathtaking.

[OnDoutside]

5. No they don't. They know that having a left of left politician will get them nowhere...see here

[socialist_n_TN]

6. Most of the polls I've seen show Labour in a virtual dead heat.........

with the Conservatives since Corbyn was elected and HUNDREDS of thousands of people have joined Labour since Corbyn's election, including 16k new members since this coup attempt. That doesn't sound like a leader who's flailing or failing.

There are two primary motivations for this attempt at backstabbing. The surface motivation is written about above, the fear that Corbyn will lead to an electoral defeat. This is tied in with the 80s/90s Blairite, neo-liberal mindset that you've got to be Tory lite to win an election. It's pure opportunism. "Vote for us. We'll screw you over, but not as bad as Boris or Gove will".

But there's a hidden motivation too. Their also afraid that Corbyn just MIGHT win an election and send their neo-liberal view into the dustbin of history. The PLP over the last two plus decades have bought TOTALLY into Thatcher's "There is no alternative" to such an extent that they can't allow an alternative to even get NEAR Downing Street or run for the big office. TINA means that it can't even be mentioned.

It's just a way for the Blairites to take back "their" party from the people IN the party. The ones who had the temerity to elect Corbyn in the first place. Of course the Blairites won't beat the Tories either, but winning an election is secondary to keeping the public from demanding the alternative to austerity or austerity lite that Corbyn might provide.

[OnDoutside]

7. I guarantee you, if there was a GE tomorrow, the British press would have Corbyn dressed up as

Stalin's grandson. It's $5 to join the Labour Party. Quite a number of PLP members are only too cognisant of the disloyalty shown by Corbyn to successive party leaders and his pursuit of his own agenda at all times.

There are times when membership of the PLP means grinning and bearing it in the face of angry voters, cranky union bosses and vile Tory press scum (i.e. most media) but party solidarity may demand it. Successive MPs have had to make that choice and they regard Corbyn as a poor leader because he has always indulged his ''integrity'' to distance himself from the others. If politics was easy, they'd all be at it. And no. it is not mere pragmatism, that oft derided word but taking the longer view and saving the interests of those of the populace who voted for your party and not just the Dave and Deirdre Sparts of the hard left.

And no matter what the stated policies of Corbyn and his inner circle, they are hard left and not representative of those who are in their positions because of the ultimate validation, the voters, not the members of the PLP.

[socialist_n_TN]

15. This says it more completely than I can.........

http://www.redflagonline.org/2016/06/this-is-our-fight-to-win-join-labour-to-defeat-the-rebellion/

[OnDoutside]

18. This is the hard left trying to hang onto what they've got, which will end up with Labour either

splitting or getting bate out the gate in the coming General Election. There's already a suggestion that Centre Left Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens getting together.

"all socialists, all progressive people"

[socialist_n_TN]

20. Getting beat in the GE? Maybe..............

Labour splitting? That was pretty much of a done deal when these class traitors pulled this chickencoup. RW Labour joining up with the Lib Dems? Possibly. But they will ALL VOTE WITH THE TORIES AND UKIP FOR AUSTERITY FOR THE PEOPLE AND BAILOUTS FOR THE BANKS!

At least these folks will offer the people a choice in the matter other than austerity or austerity lite.

[OnDoutside]

36. Maybe you know this, but has there been a policy change within the Socialist movement to rebrand as

Progressive ? I've seen this used by Socialists in a number of countries now.

Class traitors is an emotive term, isn't it just reasonable to take a position that Socialists are too ideologically rigid to be electable ?

[socialist_n_TN]

44. Most of the times I've seen "progressive" used is when......

they're asking for a joint struggle with other progressive social forces, not some sort of rebranding. Class traitors is this case is accurate, even if emotive. Unlike the Democrats in this country, Labour in the UK was NOT begun as a "big tent" or a "party for all classes". Labour was begun as a political party to represent WORKERS first, NOT the bosses. When members of a workers' party side with the owners AGAINST the workers and their interests, then class traitors is accurate if emotive.

Edited to add: The above sentence about "progressive" only relates to people and groups. As a general term Marxists have used progressive to describe social forces in analysis as opposed to regressive forces. IOW, per Marx and Marxists, capitalism was a progressive system compared to feudalism or the slave cultures that preceded it.

[OnDoutside]

59. It's just that it seems Progressive is publicly used as a smokescreen because the word Socialist is

still toxic in the likes of the UK and USA.

I agree Labour lurched to the right, but lurching all the way back to the far left isn't the solution in the UK. Oh for a John Smith right now.

[socialist_n_TN]

61. To me it's no longer about labels............

although the right-wing in both parties AND the media will try to make it about that. It's about policies, policies that help the average person while not demonizing an oppressed subset of the population. If Corbyn comes out strongly on a class based, anti-austerity platform that encompasses everybody currently living and working in the UK, he's got a shot IMO. That is what the Labour Party was originally constituted to do after all, stand up for working people. It's a "back to basics" type of thing. As far as I can tell, he would be the ONLY candidate and Labour would be the ONLY party to have this platform. All the rest basically are going to support austerity in one form or another and to a greater or lesser degree.

BTW, I know this is from April, but here's a poll from Business Insider (certainly no socialist publication ) that shows Labour ahead with the general public in an election matchup.

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-media-is-ignoring-the-fact-that-jeremy-corbyns-labour-is-pulling-ahead-in-the-polls-2016-4?r=UK&IR=T

[OnDoutside]

65. It won't go down well in the UK, it's not that kind of country AND I cannot repeat enough, the Media

will absolutely go to town on him. They'll paint him all sorts of red, and drag up everything from his past, such as divorcing one of his wives because she wanted the son to go to a private school while he insisted on sending him to one of the crap Islington public schools, in his constituency. I've seen it before in the UK where they go at far left politicians like it was fox hunting.

BTW, I rail against "austerity". In my opinion, it is balancing the books. I have no problem with making sure that the rich pay more than they are paying but describing it as "austerity" is wrong.

[malaise]

50. Why should he defer to their sell out neo-liberal agenda?

Serious question

[socialist_n_TN]

62. Why indeed malaise..........

Not only a serious question, but a good one too.

[malaise]

64. Don't yah know it's pragmatic to let the 1% steal everything

or that's what they keep telling us.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

9. No, they're trying to pull the party back from the brink; it's Corbyn who is destroying it.

The only hope for the survival of Labour as a viable party of government is a change of leader.

I am in no way being hyperbolic when I say that Corbyn poses an existential threat to it. If he remains, I think it is likely that most of the MPs will, not unreasonably, leave and set up their a new left-wing opposition party. The new party may or may not flourish (I fear it won't), but the old one will almost certainly wither.

[socialist_n_TN]

11. "...a new left-wing opposition party"...............

Tory lite policies are NOT "left wing".

Actually this stunt by the Blairites pretty much guarantees a Tory win. Or maybe even a UKIP win. And quite frankly, I'm sure they're OK with that. They would rather see the Conservatives and even UKIP win the GE than for Corbyn to even have a CHANCE to run. His platform would be too poisonous to the "There is no alternative" mindset that they've adopted over the last 25 or so years.

Unless they stand down and work to defeat the Tories instead of trying to defeat the democratically elected leader of the Labour Party, there will be NO opposition to the Tories that can win a general election. Other than UKIP of course. And this is Including the new version of the SDP that will be constituted by the PLP.

[socialist_n_TN]

14. This says it more completely than I can.........

http://www.redflagonline.org/2016/06/this-is-our-fight-to-win-join-labour-to-defeat-the-rebellion/

[Donald Ian Rankin]

19. I find it heart-breaking that left-wingers are campaigning so effectively for the Tories.

That noise of applause you can hear? That's Mrs Thatcher clapping as you and your friends condemn us to 9 more years of Tory rule and the end of the NHS.

[socialist_n_TN]

22. Why do you think that those RW Labourites will save the NHS?......

And if they do "save" it, I expect it to be a hollowed out shell of what it was.

This is a choice between politicians who believe in austerity, either more or less, for the people and politicians who are going to unequivocally say "NO!" to austerity. That's is going to be the choice presented to the electorate. I know which side I would vote for if presented that choice.

[malaise]

29. Very well said

We both know that the Blairites hate Corbyn - they just found an opportune moment

[suffragette]

51. They're pushing hard to unseat him and Chilcot is due

Next week, isn't it?

Tony and the Blairites need to take their band elsewhere.

Off world would be my vote.

[malaise]

57. Truthfully Tony should be locked up

in the Hague - he's a war criminal

[suffragette]

66. Absolutely, he should be. Speaking of criminal, just started to key in on Lord Ashcroft

After seeing many of his Brexit polls being posted here.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7954511

Looks like he is a prime mover behind right wing policy and politicians in UK and Belize and pushes his agenda through pouring his ill gotten money into AstroTurf campaigns and propaganda.

Keep an eye out and a healthy distrust for anything coming from him.

[sufrommich]

8. The long knives are coming out over there.

Serves 'em right. You broke it,you bought it.

[Lucinda]

16. I think that sentiment fits in perfectly with Cameron's announcement that he wasn't the guy to

move forward with this after the vote. I wondered about the vague time reference to his leaving, but the consensus seems to be that he thought this would be the result.

[malaise]

30. Coming out?

There's blood everywhere.

[Solly Mack]

10. Snort

[malaise]

24. Good snort

Clean up on all aisles

[Aerows]

39. Off topic

but when I was a kid, I accidentally ran into a spaghetti sauce display. They had the Ragu structured like a pyramid, and the toe of my shoe caught one.

I was horrified. Spaghetti sauce came careening down, and showered my shoes, socks and shirt.

Biggest mess of broken glass, sauce and plain disaster you could imagine. I ran away from it to my mother. I was about 8, but I viscerally learned a big ass mess that day LOL

Anyway, that's what this mess reminds me of.

[malaise]

42. LOL - Definite clean up on Spaghetti aisle

That must have been frightening for an eight year old

[Aerows]

43. It was *EVERYWHERE*

It was a tall pyramid of Ragu. When it crashed down, there was spaghetti sauce literally *EVERYWHERE*.

I never did like Canal Villere after that incident. I'm pretty sure they didn't like me either!

[malaise]

45. Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

That must have been something to behold.
Forgive me for laughing

[Aerows]

46. They had the display set up by the cheese aisle

It was in a wide lane, so there was plenty of room for it to fly around. Epic disaster is not overstating it. Mom threw all of my clothes out and my shoes, too. It was so damn embarrassing.

[malaise]

48. One of those very lasting memories

The good news is that you didn't get cut - I'm trying to picture the scene

[Aerows]

56. I became a redhead that day.

[tblue37]

54. Whoever okayed that display was an idiot. nt

[Aerows]

55. This was 30 years ago

but still, whoever set that up was a fool.

[Blue_Tires]

17. Christ, what an asshole...

[Rex]

23. Another one bites the dust!

My my my...the BritGOPers are just flailing all about! Trump has caused a hurricane of stupid! Could we be so lucky as to watch the Torres and the GOP disintegrate before our very eyes?

[malaise]

25. Here endeth the Reagan/Thatcher

New World Order. The costs of their folly will continue to pile up for decades.

[Rex]

26. Bought dam time! Their 'piss on the poor' economic system about destroyed the planet.

Created never ending warzones for the elite.

[malaise]

28. and forget not the not so subtle promotion of racism

[Rex]

31. Indeed! And the fear-hatred of the LGBT community!

[malaise]

32. Yep

How ironic that their 1% backers are the folks who brought in cheap labor and took their jobs - then figured out they could find even cheaper workers overseas.

[Rex]

34. They love to exploit others, who could have predicted such sadistic folks would rise to such power?

Okay, history does...all over the place. Back in the day it was just called indentured servitude. Not to far from that imo.


Oh wait...this is not back in the day...this is from 2015.

[malaise]

35. I have a theory for why they think they can take us back

to Dickens

[Rex]

37. Well if they expect us all to fight it out while they scurry away for the doomsday bunker I got news

There won't be a hole deep enough to hide in. My theory is 'greed kills'.

[malaise]

40. They will learn

You'd think they'd read the classic Fairy Tales, the 'fables', or Anderson.

[BootinUp]

27. Yep!

[Aerows]

38. I predict Parliament being a zoo

for the foreseeable future. Chaos.

[Warpy]

41. I know, it's a lot of fun to watch

Friends in London, especially, are breathing a collective sigh of relief that Boris won't be PM; they have ample experience of him as mayor and are delighted he'll fade more into the background.

They're all resigned to getting some horror who's worse than Cameron was. They just hope elections are sooner rather than later.

Oh, and Labour is also doing its share of backstabbing and nights of the long knives, witness the epic fight of the Blair people against Corbyn.

[white_wolf]

52. Worse than Cameron?!

Jesus, have the resurrected Thatcher herself?

[socialist_n_TN]

63. Good to see you again w_w..........

You still in this state?

[whistler162]

47. Great Grandson of Turkish journalist Ali Kemal

and US and UK dual citizen led fit to exit EU and limit immigration.

[d_r]

53. Fecking Tories

(I just like saying that)

[malaise]

60. Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaah

[Night Watchman]

58. The Heart Bleeds