Scrutable

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... on-johnson

Not sure of the background of this but this really does show up the idea that everything has swung rather dramatically to the right over the past n years. It's certainly an interesting development.

Also, am I the only one who thinks that describing a political party as a "brand" is nauseating and abhorrent?

This story confused me because I thought ex-Speakers were supposed to continue to pretend they no longer have any party preferences after leaving the job. Hence why they sit as crossbenchers when they go to the Lords.

WFJ wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 19, 2021 9:21 pm

This story confused me because I thought ex-Speakers were supposed to continue to pretend they no longer have any party preferences after leaving the job. Hence why they sit as crossbenchers when they go to the Lords.

Bercow's not in the Lords, so convention has already gone out the window.

IF he was in the Lords having been nominated there as a former Speaker, then the convention would be for them to sit as a cross bencher

However the Tories decided to be petty and break with the conventions of automatically giving the former Speaker a peerage, presumably because they were cross that Bercow had the temerity to stand up for Parliament against the executive. So the crossnbench convention doesn't apply

If Labour were to now nominate him, then it wouldn't be on the grounds that he was the former Speaker. Therefore again the convention of sitting as a crossbencher wouldn't apply.

CF

I think most people who remember who he is just think "yuck" to be honest.

plodder wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 21, 2021 8:19 am

I think most people who remember who he is just think "yuck" to be honest.

Totes - and yet he still managed to be a voice of reason (on occasion) compared to the people actually running the country. What a world.

Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 21, 2021 2:06 pm

plodder wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 21, 2021 8:19 am

I think most people who remember who he is just think "yuck" to be honest.

Totes - and yet he still managed to be a voice of reason (on occasion) compared to the people actually running the country. What a world.

You say "what a world" but at one level that's just par for the course. Politicians are not saints, and they are generally going to come equipped with big egos. The number of people willing to vote for Johnson and Trump seems to suggest that many people are neither surprised nor put off by politicians with such characteristics, even at the more extreme end of the spectrum. Being unreasonable can even be a characteristic some people desire in their politicians. I've been trying to work out why the new DUP leader was so rapidly ejected, and as far as I can work out it is because he showed signs of being insufficiently unreasonable for their tastes.

Good interview with Bercow on the News Agents podcast

https://www.globalplayer.com/podcasts/42KuVj/