He suggests that they, as men of principle (well sometimes anyway), should break away from the Conservative Party and set up a new right wing party basing it on a Europe-free England. I say England, because none of them is from Scotland, the only Scottish Tory MP, David Mundell, being a junior member of the government.
What would the result of this be?
The Conservatives currently have 306 seats. If they were to lose 81 that would leave them with 225. Their coalition partners have 56, giving the coalition 286 seats out of a total of 650. Oops.
Either Cameron and Clegg could carry on in a minority government or they would be forced to dissolve the coalition and ask the Queen for a dissolution of parliament and a General Election. They might try the former, but inevitably it would not be long before the latter would be forced upon them by a confidence vote.
So who would win that General Election. There would be some impressive names and formidable intellects in the supposed new party, including the likes of John Redwood and David Davies. (The latter could easily run as its leader.) Of course, for balance the party would also have the burden of the un-formidable brain of Louise Mensch.
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| Bill Ca$h |
Who knows who it might attract from the rest of the Tories once a General Election were called. It would obviate the need for UKIP and with so much more chance of electoral success that that party, would almost certainly take the majority of their votes, and their candidates. Euroscepticism is not an exclusively right wing philosophy. Indeed Labour, when, years ago, it was a left wing party, was Eurosceptical. But it tends to be a policy of either the right or the left, rather than the centre. (It's possibly the only time you would see Dennis Skinner and Bill (I'll take) Cash in the same lobby.) But this is a Tory breakaway party, unlikely to attract the left, so it's my guess that the new party would be fairly hard right wing, neocon, Atlanticist. (Liam Fox and adjunct would feel at home there).
So how would that affect Scotland?
Well, it's unlikely to be popular here, not because of a lack of Euroscepticism, but because it would be fairly hard right, and that philosophy goes down like a lead balloon in Scotland. However, a UK government made up of these people from England would drive Scotland, and perhaps Wales running into the arms of independence, possibly Northern Ireland running for the comfort of Dublin and hopefully Kernow looking more towards Mebyon Kernow.
So, I am all for it. Go for it guys. Ditch Cleggie's best mate, Dave, and strike out on your own. You can rid the England of Europe and damned soon afterwards of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Cornwall...
Video: Louise Mensch being toasted by the "Have I got News for You" team. Honestly, you stupid woman, if you have a brain cell in your empty head it should tell you that if you are not clever and you are not funny, it's a seriously bad idea to take on Ian Hislop and Paul Merton at the same time.
In the interests of being anti-semetic, the Jewgirl got a pasting
ReplyDeletethere!
What on earth makes you think Cornwall is even interested in leaving England?
ReplyDeleteMebyon Kernow is a joke.
Even more interesting, what makes you think that Scotland's best interests are served by remaining in the EU, because that's where Salmond sees a future Scotland being.
Well, I'm not anti anything DL, but I think if an MP is none too bright she or he should probably avoid making extra money for her/himself by being on satirical comedy programmes.
ReplyDeleteAnd if she/he is not very funny she/he should steer clear of them too.
If they fall into both the categories, they deserve to be taken to pieces and made to look very foolish by the likes of Merton and Hislop.
That stupid woman who is married to the pompous little self satisfied twit of a speaker of the English parliament is another prime example of a supremely unfunny, rather dim woman putting herself up for a good knocking down on that programme.
On the radio version,The News Quiz" you occasionally get Matthew Parris (who is anything but stupid) being interminably dreary and spoiling the show (just to prove that I'm not picking on daft women).
Well, you see, QM, I was wondering where exactly the Kernow people stand. After all, there isn't a great groundswell of interest in Labour in that part of the world, and the mixture of Tory and Liberal that they have at present has let them down badly.
ReplyDelete"Devonwall parliamentary constituencies, a St George's day English national bank holiday, Devonshire post codes in Kernow, the deliberate replacing of the adjective 'Cornish' with the incorrect 'Cornwall', the denial of our true constitutional position in the UK, the centralising of Cornish services and jobs out of the Duchy, Cornish heritage claimed as English, English cultural bodies given free reign in Cornwall, locals priced out of the housing market - little by little, step by step - a people is destroyed."
(From The Cornish Democrat)
So maybe they will turn to their own party.
Hopeless? No more so than other little parties or movements.
As for your second point, I think you misread what I said. I made the point that as there were, in Scotland, none of these Tory backbenchers who want out of Europe, and as the kind of policies that people of their political persuasions are likely to espouse would be anathema in Scotland, I don't think that we'll be over burdened with them, any more that we are with the BNP and UKIP extremists.
I am a critical supporter of the EU; I have worked and been paid under its funding and although the right-wing popular press in England likes to portray it as a greedy monster eating away at good English money that could easily be spent on weaponry to keep Britannia ruling the waves, I know that it actually does a pile of good for poor people.
Of course I want the fisheries and farming policies changed, and if Scotland had had a say in talks instead of being represented by an English minister who only knows about Scottish fish because he is sometimes served one, we might have had a more sensible settlement.
As for following Alex Salmond. Well, no, I don't do that blindly. I do, however, think that the guy is rather bright compared with any other politician in the UK, and streets, no continents ahead of the opposition here. If I have to follow someone I'd far rather it was Alex than Cameron-Clegg or the hapless Miliband.
And give me the EU to the UK anyday.
It's often conveniently forgotten by Labour that their 1983 manifesto had pulling out of Europe as one of their promises if elected.
ReplyDeleteIt's also conveniently forgotten by Tory Euroskeptics of a certain age, that that far from the Euro-creep integration they claim they never asked for, were never consulted on or have ever had an opportunity to vote against....well actually they did. All they had to do was vote Labour. What a very different world we'd be in had they done so.
Having read Dark Lochnagar's blog every so often, imdon't think he means his anti-semitism is a 'loght-hearted' fashion.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what future I, would have in his vision of an Independent Scotland. Would I have spend years working for it only to be driven out by the DL's of this world?
Tevye
No you would not.
ReplyDeleteNot if the likes of me had anything to do with it.
Not if the likes (much more importantly) of people like Alex and Nicola, John and Kenny, Richard, Shona, Joe... and all the rest of the government has a say, and I' have to say if Willie Rennie, or Iain Gray or his successor, or Annabel Goldie or her sucessor had any say.
I don't really think that it's that sort of country.
I'm sure that DL made his comment light-heartedly, even if it could be misinterpreted.
I think, from what I've read that he has, as many people do, grave issues with Israel over the Palestinian situation. But having issues with Israel is not anti-Semitism, and more than being downright bloody furious with Italy is being anti-catholic, or thinking that Yemen is the regime from hell is anti-Muslim.
But there, I've spoken for him, and if he's watching this thread perhaps he'd like to answer that issue himself...
Over to you DL.
Anon: Dead right.
ReplyDeleteIt is worth saying too, that many of the most unifying treaties have been signed by Tory prime ministers.
I'm sorry, my spam blaster put your post into my spam box, which I check only very rarely.
That's why it's taken so long to reply.