Leave looks like…Has Brexit met Vote Leave’s prospectus?

Leave looks like…Has Brexit met Vote Leave’s prospectus?

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Has Brexit matched your expectations?  Let’s start by considering what your expectations should have been.  Shortly before the referendum in 2016, Vote Leave issued a document called Leave Looks Like… which is the closest thing they had to a manifesto.  Their bullet point commitments were as follows: We end the supremacy of EU law and the European Court. We will be able to kick out those who make our laws. Europe yes, EU no. We have a new UK-EU Treaty based on…

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George Osborne argues that the way Trump’s been constrained shows that democracy is working

George Osborne argues that the way Trump’s been constrained shows that democracy is working

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The former Chancellor and now Editor of the London Evening Standard has an interesting piece in his paper tonight in which he gives his analysis of the dramatic events over the past week in Washington and argues that it shows that the democratic process is working. He notes: Having got to the White House, Donald Trump posed an almost unique danger. It’s hard to imagine a personality less suited to the judicious exercise of awesome power than the biggest narcissist…

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Let’s stop this faux outrage over Boris being seen cycling 7 miles from Downing Street

Let’s stop this faux outrage over Boris being seen cycling 7 miles from Downing Street

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For a man in his early 50s that is well within his “local area” There’s been a lot of fuss over the past 24 hours over the PM being spotted cycling near the Olympic park which is about seven miles from Downing Street. LAB MPs and those opposed to him have accused Johnson of following a “Do as I say not as I do” approach to the lockdown restrictions. As PB regulars might have deduced I am no fan of…

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Trump has not spoken to Pence since Wednesday’s storming of the Capitol

Trump has not spoken to Pence since Wednesday’s storming of the Capitol

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A major split seems to have occurred between Trump and his VP Mike Pence according to NBC News There is .. a deepening and widespread anger among Pence’s aides and allies at how Trump seemingly discarded his most devoted soldier over his refusal to circumvent an important constitutional duty, per these people. The president’s decision not to reach out to Pence and his family while they were sheltered inside a Capitol bunker as pro-Trump rioters breached the building has particularly…

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Jabbing the Unjabbable (or, for the less polite, Pricking the Pricks)

Jabbing the Unjabbable (or, for the less polite, Pricking the Pricks)

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A guest slot by Stocky I saw a friend recently who is an enthusiast of myriad butt-clenching conspiracy theories.  “My intention was to calmly, cleverly and succinctly knock down each piece of nonsense one-by-one and emerge victorious, chest swelled and buttocks relaxed. My plan quickly got caught up in the weeds.” He quickly got into his patter: Covid is no worse than flu; the death figures are deliberately inflated; long-Covid is largely made up; the pandemic is a fiction created by…

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Time to bet that Trump will take the controversial step of pardoning himself?

Time to bet that Trump will take the controversial step of pardoning himself?

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The above is the top of the entry on the US Department of Justice website of the dozens of people who have been pardoned by Trump during his presidency. No doubt this list will be added to in the days that remain before Biden is inaugurated on January 20th. There’s a lot of speculation about who will make the final list which is likely to include those who have been closest to the President during his time in office. There’s…

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Is Donald Trump the electoral behemoth his congressional allies think he is?

Is Donald Trump the electoral behemoth his congressional allies think he is?

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As I started looking at betting on the 2022 and 2024 American elections I thought I’d look at Donald Trump’s performances in 2016 and 2020 and see if he might be a help or a hindrance for the GOP going forward purely in electoral terms. As we can see Trump has the two of the three lowest shares of the vote this millennium for the GOP. In defence of Trump, the GOP have only won the popular vote once in…

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Of talking dogs and politicians

Of talking dogs and politicians

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We’re still allowed to take daily exercise and I expect that most readers do.  If, like me, you go for a walk, you have no doubt been treated to the experience of an unleashed dog bounding up to you. As it barks and jumps, you regularly hear the owner breezily assure you: “don’t worry, he won’t bite”. On such occasions, an ex of mine used to reply sardonically: “fuck me, a talking dog”. Academics working in political science have spent many years…

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