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Paul Bigland

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Paul Bigland

Category Archives: Democracy

The political chaos gathers momentum…

22 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Boris Johnson MP, Brexit, Democracy, Musings, Politics

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Boris Johnson, Brexit, Politics

In a move that will surprise few, Alan Duncan MP has resigned from the Foreign Office. Having suffered the incompetence of Boris Johnson as Foreign Minister it’s clear he’s no intention of serving under him as Prime Minister!

To say this comes at an awkward time is an understatement. The FO still hasn’t recovered from the damage Johnson caused and already has one Minister suspended. Just what we need with the Iranian’s saber-rattling in the Gulf!

Of course Duncan is merely the first one out of the traps and at least he’s stayed in the party. Who’ll be next? Chancellor Philip Hammond has already announced he’ll resign on Wednesday if Johnson wins tomorrow. Plus, there’s newspaper reports that up to six Tory MPs are in discussions with the Liberal Democrats about joining the party.

This really could prove interesting as it would leave Johnson without any majority in Parliament and facing some politically savvy opposition from his own back-benches. Johnson’s not a clever politician. Devious and blustering, yes, but not clever. The cracks are already starting to show and he’s not even taken office yet! The chances of a serious split in the Tory party are becoming more likely, especially if Johnson surrounds himself with ideological Brexit headbangers in his Cabinet. You wouldn’t trust most of them to run a whelk stall, never mind a country.

If only we had an opposition party and Leader worth the name. At this rate, it looks like the Lib-Dems will assume that role. Since I wrote this it’s been announced that Jo Swinson MP has been voted in as the new Lib-Dem leader, making the Labour party the only one of the triumvirate (Labour, Tory & Lib-Dem) to never have elected a woman.

I thought my marching days were over!

23 Saturday Jun 2018

Posted by Paul Bigland in Brexit, Democracy, Politics

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Brexit, Democracy, Politics

It’s a funny old world. Here I am, sitting on a train to London to join tens of thousands of other people who will be marching to protest about the shambles known as Brexit.

I thought my marching days were over. As a veteran of the Miners strike, CND protests, Poll Tax fracas and Gulf war demo (amongst others) I’d hoped we’d moved on as a country. How wrong can you be?

Now we’re in the biggest mess we’ve faced since World War 2, and it’s entirely self-inflicted!

Our politicians have failed us, they’re incapable of publically admitting what a shambles Brexit is and the price the country will pay for it. Instead, some are outright lying about it. So, I find myself having to hit the streets of London once again. What a sorry state this country’s in.

Expect some pictures later…

20.36.

What a fantastic day! I’ve a huge amount of pictures to share of this brilliant event, but here’s one of my early favourites.

DG300536

Sunday. 24th June

Getting back to Halifax after the march was fun due to delays on the East Coast Main Line thanks to a failed train near Peterborough. I ‘enjoyed’ an enforced stay in Doncaster, then our train was terminated at Wakefield and we were taken to Halifax by road. I finally got home at 02:15 this morning, but it was well worth it. I’ve added another couple of pictures from yesterday, but the rest (there’s around 60) can be found by following this link to a gallery on my Zenfolio website.

DG300482

DG300719

A good day for democracy so, of course, Brexiteers are getting nasty.

03 Thursday Nov 2016

Posted by Paul Bigland in Brexit, Democracy

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Brexit, Democracy

Since the referendum result this country really has felt a surreal place. It’s been like one of those parallel universes so beloved of science fiction writers. You know, one of those places that (superficially) look and sound the same but have startling and unsettling differences. So, what was once an outward, democratic, fairly prosperous and socially liberal country was replaced overnight with one that was inward, xenophobic, illiberal  that had a whiff of fascism about it and that was happy to ruin its economy for the chimera of having ‘taken back control’.

Today, that division has been thrown into stark relief as the High Court has ruled that Parliament must vote on whether the UK can start the process of leaving the EU and that the government cannot trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty – beginning formal discussions with the EU – on their own.

This is clearly a victory for democracy. You would have thought Brexiteers would be welcoming the decision. After all, they campaigned for sovereignty, democracy and Parliament, for us to ‘take back control’.

Not a bit of it. Instead the rhetoric and threats have more in common with a fascist dictatorship. Here’s a few comments from Twitter.

50-war

ukip-mep

twit-nazi

But the ‘best’ has to be the Daily Mail comments. Take a look at these – and this is a mainstream newspaper for God’s sake…

heil-2

And finally…

daily-heil

This is why I worry about the future of my country.

 

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