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Paul Bigland

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Paul Bigland

Tag Archives: Boris Johnson

Forget the USA, the UK now has its own ‘clown prince’…

23 Tuesday Jul 2019

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

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Boris Johnson, Brexit, Politics

Today, it happened. The Tory party faithful elected serial liar Boris Johnson as their new Leader and next Prime Minister. Teresa May stands down tomorrow and Johnson takes over. Britain’s 3 year journey into farce continues. Yet again, we’ve proved to the rest of the world just how insular and inward we’re becoming, as well as how irrelevant. Having humiliated the UK in front of the world as a feckless Foreign Secretary, Johnson’s been handed a bigger stage for his incompetence and room for his ego. It will not go well.

His acceptance speech was classic Johnson. It was a lesson in banality and vacuous soundbites. One where we were told Britain will thrive under him and Brexit if we just “believe”. He’s like a backwoods preacher selling the afterlife to the credulous. But then Brexit is akin to a religion to some. Logic and facts are nothing when you have faith.

It’ll all unravel of course. The EU’s already pissed on his chips by immediately announcing that there will be no renegotiation of the deal stuck between them and Teresa May. So whose head is he going to hold a gun to, other than his own? It’s like that surreal moment from Mel Brooks classic film ‘Blazing Saddles’

Meanwhile, various Tories are giving up their portfolios and making it very clear they won’t serve in a Johnson Government. Other Tories are fawning on Twitter, praising Johnson for his ‘achievements’ and ability to “get things done” in the hope of a junior job. On Thursday we’ll start to see what appointments he makes. It’s unlikely to be a pretty sight. No doubt swivel-eyed loons will feature highly as nobody else will be dumb enough to take the poisoned chalice. His cabinet will be more MFI than Chippendale. I doubt it’ll take long before it starts to fall apart…

I wonder how long it’ll take for the Brexit fanatics to twig that Johnson is no more capable of delivering Brexit than anyone else? Parliament is likely to be a pretty rancorous and raucous place over the next few months as different groups of MPs try to block any no deal Brexit. Johnson will be thrust into the national spotlight in a way he’s never been before and his bombast and bluster won’t save him now.

Let’s remember something. Johnson didn’t get into politics through ANY notion of public service. Throughout his life and career he’s proved he only cares about one thing. His overwhelming sense of entitlement and ambition. Then look at what his employers & co-workers say about him. Lazy, disorganised, no attention to detail and no loyalty to anyone other than himself. This character is now our Prime Minister.

I predict that this is going to get messy…

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.

HS2 antis get stitched up by Boris Johnson!

17 Monday Jun 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Anti Hs2 mob, Boris Johnson MP, Hs2, Politics, Railways

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Boris Johnson, Hs2, Politics, Railways

I can’t help laughing, I really can’t! Those of us who’ve observed the formerly occasional London Mayor Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson for years have known that you can’t trust him as far as you can throw him. HS2 antis however, have always been good at grasping any straw. So much so they could have thatched the dome of the O2 arena with them by now.

Today, the predictable has happened. The Birmingham Mail has carried an exclusive story from the Tory leadership hustings in Birmingham. Written by Johnathan Walker, the piece reports that Mr Johnson said: “I have already asked provisionally Douglas Oakervee, who was the original chair of Crossrail, to have a look at the business case for HS2 and to think about whether and how we proceed.”

Chair of Crossrail eh? Hang on a minute, Oakervee was ALSO HS2 Ltd Chairman between Apr 2012 – Dec 2013! Does anyone honestly think Oakervee, a man who’s been building major civil engineering projects (including railways) around the world for decades, and who’s seen their transformational impacts, is going to say “HS2? Nah, scrap it”.

Furthermore, Johnson is also quoted as saying “I worry about cancelling a big national project of that scale without anything else to replace it.” Now, given Johnson’s penchant for large infrastructure projects that he can put his not inconsiderable ego – sorry – name to, does anyone seriously think he’s going to cancel HS2?

Even some HS2 antis are beginning to realise that they’re on to a loser as Johnson isn’t the only Tory leadership hopeful to row back from opposition to HS2. I predict further wailing and gnashing of teeth from what’s left of the StopHs2 camp as it’s clear the political support of regional leaders like Birmingham’s Mayor Andy Street (a fellow Tory to Johnson) and Labour Mayors in the North is firmly behind HS2. If he manages to become PM, Johnson’s going to need some good news pretty fast – and cancelling HS2 isn’t it. It might satisfy a tiny bunch of Nimbys and the lobbyists of 55 Tufton St, but the political shit-storm it would unleash in the Midlands and the North (not to mention in London) is the last thing Johnson would need.

UPDATE.

My old friend Alan Marshall has been in touch to remind me of something…

“Despite Boris seemingly (or reportedly) being very anti-HS2, in fact when he was Mayor of London he was very much for it . . . so much so that in 2015 he set up the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation to exploit the opportunities arising from the OOC interchange with the new Crossrail station to be built on the GWML. What’s more, he made himself the first chairman of the OOPRDC”.

No HS2 = no OOPRDC = no 24,000 new homes and no 55,000 jobs…

Recent Posts

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  • Crazy anti-HS2 campaigner of the week. No 29.
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  • It’s the Hs2 ‘rebellion’ pantomime season!
  • 24th February picture of the day…

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