= Сообщение: 8660 из 12491 ====================================== ENET.SYSOP = От : Michiel van der Vlist 2:280/5555 26 May 19 15:22:02 Кому : David Rance 26 May 19 15:22:02 Тема : Not May but June FGHI : area://ENET.SYSOP?msgid=2:280/5555+5cea97fe На : area://ENET.SYSOP?msgid=2:203/2+5cea852e = Кодировка сообщения определена как: CP850 ================================== ============================================================================== Hello David,
On Sunday May 26 2019 14:23, you wrote to me:
DR> Note the phrase, "if Mrs. May *did* resign at this point in time". I DR> was talking about (as you said) nearly two months ago. It was Harold DR> Wilson who said "a week is a long time in politics". Due to the DR> fast-changing pace of the political landscape, the fortunes of a DR> politician can change drastically just in the course of a single week, DR> let alone two months!.
I see your point. In politics the situation is always volatile. The situation _can_ change in a day, let alone in two months.
But that raises the question: what has actually changed in the last two month other than that Mrs May submitted her Brexit proposal to parliament for the third time with the same result? From my POV, the situation looks very unchanged.
DR>>> For the first time, an ex-Fido sysop would become a prime minister!
MvdV>> Mrs May has resigned and Michael Gove has stepped forward. So MvdV>> who knows... :)
DR> Yes, and it was due to Michael Gove that Boris retired from the DR> previous election for a party leader when Theresa May got in. I do DR> hope that people won't forget Gove's back-stabbing then!
Voters have notoriously short memories...
DR> First he was a keen supporter of Boris. But then he said that he DR> didn't feel Boris would make a good PM and decided to stand against DR> him. He's played Mr Nice Guy since then.
Here the media reported that the conservative party did not want to risk splitting the party in a pro Johnson and a pro Gove faction and so they decided on "safe" Theresa May, instead of either Johnson or Gove.
DR> I don't trust him.
And right you are, if only fo the fact that one should not trust any politician just like that...
DR> A note on the succession of Conservative party leaders:
DR> The first person to be elected leader of the Conservative Party was DR> Edward Heath, the prime minister who led us into the then Common DR> Market. Before that it was a mysterious process that simply relied on DR> a recommendation from the previous leader.
Back room politics...
DR> But even now the election process is flawed. Presumably among the DR> candidates that have put themselves forward, there will be those who DR> are Brexiteers and those who are Remainers. The Conservative MPs get DR> to choose two out of the eight
There is a limit of eight candidates?
DR> which are then subject to an election by the grass-roots Conservatives DR> throughout the country. But what if neither of the chosen candidates DR> are who the grass-roots people want? What if the two candidates are DR> *both* ardent Brexiteers, or *both* are Remainers?
Sounds like a flaw indeed. So why not let them choose between all of the candidates? (That's how most political parties do it here).
DR> The Labour Party didn't have this problem when Jeremy Corbyn was DR> elected because they are more democratic. The Labour MPs did not want DR> JC as their leader and have tried many times to get rid of him. He was DR> elected by the grass-roots Labour supporters at their annual DR> conference, mainly trade union representatives, and so the Labour MPs DR> cannot get rid of him.
They can always secede from the party and start another. That is what occasinally happens here. The party of Geert Wildres is a split off from the Liberals.
DR> Another thing I've noticed: the UK domestic media are now interviewing DR> many more Brexit supporters; a week ago they were interviewing more DR> Remainers!
They ran out of remainers? ;-)
DR> Some of our newspapers claim that it is *they* who decide who is going DR> to win elections. One can see why now.
The media have influence. No doubt about it. OTOH, the reader has the final say on what paper he/she reads and how it affects his/her vote.
DR> Politics? Why bother!?
Here 41.4% of the voters repoterd at the poll stations. A bit more than five yeas ago, but far less than the average for national parliament. So the other 58.6% did indeed not bother. :(
